General Motors on Thursday stated it has no strategy to slash the sticker price on its electric Chevrolet Bolt sedan following a federal tax credit drops by half to $3,750 on Monday.
In 2018, GM became the second automaker in the United States to surpass the 200,000 cumulative electric vehicles sales figure, which triggers a phaseout of the $7,500 federal tax credit over 15 months.
GM has laid out an aggressive electric vehicle plan, pledging to bring at least 20 EV models to market by 2023.
In January, Tesla Inc slashed the costs of its EVs by $2,000 after its EV tax credit dropped from $7,500 to $3,750 after hitting the 200,000 EV sales milestone.
Asked why the automaker is not slashing the cost to account for the lower tax credit, spokesman Jim Cain stated “it is easier to react to the market by working with dealers and your marketing team than it is to modify sticker prices.”
Tesla prompted buyers to take benefit of the full credit shortly before it expired. “Reminder to US buyers that the $7500 tax credit cuts in half in 5 days!” CEO Elon Musk tweeted in December.
GM’s credit fell to $1,875 in October and will entirely disappear by April 2020, where as Tesla’s credit drops to $1,875 in July and expires at the end of 2019.
GM has been exporting Bolt EVs to South Korea and Canada, which has affected U.S. sales
GM sold 18,000 Bolts in the United States in 2018, dropping almost 23 percent over 2017. The automaker put an end to the production of its plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt in February.
