Mitsubishi priced its new "i" electric car almost $5,000 less than Nissan's battery-powered Leaf in its bid to win a share of the emerging rechargeable auto market in the U.S.
The 2012 Mitsubishi i will have a base price of $27,990, Yoichi Yokozawa, the Tokyo-based carmaker's North American chief executive, said Thursday at the New York International Auto Show. After a U.S. tax credit, the cost to consumers will be $20,490, making it the most affordable electric vehicle in the U.S., he said. The Leaf's base price is $32,780, before the tax incentive.
"We want to penetrate this market and need to be competitive on pricing," Yokozawa told reporters. The initial goal is to deliver about 2,000 units, and "later, we'd like to go to 20,000 or 30,000 a year," he said.
Mitsubishi's move creates a rivalry in the U.S. with Nissan, which aims to be the world's biggest seller of electric cars. Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan began delivering Leafs to U.S. drivers in December and this week said it's preparing to expand shipments of the car from the low hundreds to a thousand units or more per month. Nissan's goal is to eventually sell 500,000 battery cars a year globally.
U.S. customers can pre-order the lithium-ion battery-powered i beginning Friday, Mitsubishi's Yokozawa said. The car should travel about 85 miles per charge, depending on driving conditions, he said.
Toyota, Honda, Ford and other large automakers have also announced plans to sell electric cars in the U.S. by 2012, in part to meet regulations in California forcing them to do so.
by : http://www.mercurynews.com
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