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If that means keeping it in range until the 2030 cut-off for internal combustion engined cars on sale, then so be it. Even if inflation keeps the list price (£13,400 currently in the case of the Picanto) rising, the target is to keep monthly payments low with good residual values.
“What matters is the monthly payment that people can afford,” Philpott said, although he acknowledged that rising interest rates mean “the days of 0%, 1.9%” in interest rates for in new cars is done.
The UK city car segment now consists of the Picanto and the closely related Hyundai i10. The Toyota Aygo X is a slightly different offer, which turns into a mini crossover, but is no less impressive in its mission: even if the law is effectively trying to force cars like this on the road, Toyota knows that it has a social and moral responsibility to continue to offer affordable new cars whenever possible.
Dacia is a company that built its entire business on offering affordable cars (and it does), and the market is moving towards it. Boss Denis le Vot is ready to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Euro NCAP in reducing safety rating stars – and therefore potentially causing reputational issues for carmakers with ‘unsafe’ vehicles – by not introducing active safety technology. “We’re not selling you lane-keeping assist because we know you’re killing it,” he said.
Le Vot is another that has pledged to electrify only at the last possible moment, as cars must remain affordable.
A lot of people get it too. Volkswagen’s increasingly powerful and influential boss Thomas Schafer rejected the European Commission’s suggestion that the EU7 would be “affordable” by adding around €300 to the price of new cars. He thinks it will be more like €5000, and the end of Polo is predicted as a result. VW’s return to this segment will be electric, and the goal is set to make it the same price as the Polo today, a big challenge with the larger cost of batteries.
Then there’s the always outspoken Stellantis leader Carlos Tavares, who predicts there will be “social unrest” unless politicians realize that the political decision (one he calls “dogmatic and naïve”) to switch to electric is simple pricing in the middle classes of new. cars, and allows for a stay of execution for today’s never cleaner or more efficient internal combustion engine models as new cars they can afford.
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