Strategy that at best reduces $69,990 car to just over $50k will be short-term, brand says.

“IT’S a fast-moving industry, we have to adapt where we can,” is explanation given by Opel’s top man in New Zealand in respect to a massive price cut affecting the German’s brand’s top pitch into the electric vehicle sector.

Opel New Zealand announced today it has repriced the compact crossover Mokka-e in its flagship SRi format from $69,990 to $52,740, plus on roads – the new amount reached on assumption a buyer also achieves a Clean Car rebate of $8625, a discount the brand will exact-match.

Competitor pressure is cited for a realignment that at full effect now places it beneath the make’s entry fully electric car here, the smaller Corsa-e city hatchback. It costs $59,990 and has the same 50kWh battery-fed 100kW/260Nm single motor drivetrain. Both cars only released here six months ago.

Auckland-based Opel NZ, part of the Armstrong Group’s Autodistributors operation, cites strategic actions by key competitors, including some significant changes to price positioning, as having forced it to act with Mokka-e.

“We need to adapt to the current situation and provide the best possible offer we can to continue fitting in with our positioning,” said Opel NZ commercial manager Noah Robertson today.

“In terms of the forces at play at the moment (there is) impetus for some other brands to have some offers and we don’t want to not react.

“Opel’s brand positioning is to provide quality German EVs at a price point that challenges the competition. In order to keep that up, we saw that we needed to adapt.”

The reduction has been in play since late last week though it only became public today and is a short-term proposal, wrapping up on May 31 at latest. Where the car sites after that is not being explained.

The novel strategy has required sign-off and assistance from the brand’s head office in Germany, Robertson explained.

He says price reduction actions by Nissan with the LEAF (down $10,000), original Hyundai Ioniq (now at $49,365), Tesla Model Y and Model 3 (down $3000), plus China’s BYD introducing Atto 3 with bold pricing plus a strong support package including a free wallbox forced his own operation to respond.

The local arm says the end result of the pitch places the Mokka-e SRi as “New Zealand’s lowest-priced, top spec fully electric car.”

The programme is to clear a stockpile of landed product – Robertson will not say how many cars - and will hold until either that has exhausted or up to May 31, whichever comes first.

The date is carefully chosen. Opel is among brands expecting Government to announce alterations to the Clean Car rebate system on June 1.

Robertson has indicated the flagship derivative, which appears to have claimed 64 registrations since launch and up to end of March, will not cross wires with a second electric Mokka, the ‘Live’, which Opel NZ announced recently and is still four months away, though orders are now being taken.

The Live at present prices for $62,990, prior to any rebate. The current Government assistance drops that to $54,365. Mokkas with a 1.2-litre petrol engine represent in $38,990 Edition and $44,990 SRi formats.

An updated Mokka-e with a more power drivetrain and 20 percent improved range has been announced in Germany, but Robertson says that derivative has not influenced this promotion, as it will not release here until 2024.

Opel’s cars are also sister ships to two Peugeots, the 208 and 2008, which were already more expensive than the German branded product when it launched. There’s no indication of changes by the French marque, which owns Opel, with both in turn subsumed into the giant Stellantis conglomerate.