Ford has slashed the price of its flagship Mustang Mach-E electric SUV by £7000 across the range as it aligns itself with cuts made by Tesla and reverses previous increases.
The Mach-E now starts at £43,830 for the entry-level Select version, with a range of up to 273 miles, which undercuts the cheapest Tesla Model Y (£44,900).
The Mach-E Premium, with the bigger battery and a range of up to 372 miles, now costs £52,380 while the performance-focused GT has been reduced to £67,540.
Ford bills the changes as a ‘promotion price’ rather than a long-term change but doesn’t give a date when it could be revised upward again. Finance offers currently available for the Mach-E finish at the end of December.
The price cuts effectively reverse the increases of up to £7700 that Ford levied across 2022 on the Mach-E on the back of rising raw material costs. Inflation had “wiped out” profit on the car, company chief financial officer John Lawler said.
Ford has closely tracked Tesla in terms of how it develops and sells the Mach-E and, like Tesla, offers the car on a direct sales basis, using dealers as ‘agents’, for which they receive a flat fee. The direct sales approach means Ford, rather than the dealers, is in control of pricing, leading to more pricing transparency with customers.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has said the company has been active in reducing manufacturing costs in a bid to make the car cheaper amid strong competition with the Model Y, which is the UK’s best-selling electric car.
Ford has previously announced it will bring a Mach-E using a cheaper lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery pack to Europe this year, although it’s not clear whether these price cuts reflect the introduction of the cheaper chemistry. Tesla doesn’t post battery sizes or chemistries, but just the model’s range.