Reductions of thousands available for car buyers – Derry Motoring with Jim McCauley
New Year incentives from the motor industry seem to be scarce on the ground with only a few listing offers.
Fiat has announced major price reductions across its fully electric passenger car ranges, intending to make the switch to electric vehicles more accessible for its customers.
The price reductions, which supersede the company’s earlier e-grant, offer savings of up to £4,040, and come ahead of the spring arrival of the Fiat Grande Panda and the summer arrival of the new Fiat 500 Hybrid.
The new pricing strategy brings the starting price of the Fiat 500e directly in line with the starting price of the fully electric version of Grande Panda.
On the road prices for Fiat 500e now start at just £20,995, a reduction of £4,040, making it one of the most affordable fully electric city cars. Its power rating of 87 kW (118hp) delivers a 0-62 mph time of 9.0 seconds.
There’s a choice of 24 or 42 kWh lithium-ion battery capacity, giving a range of up to 199 miles. The 600e is now available from £26,750, which represents a £3,285 saving.
Prices for Abarth 500e now start from £27,995, a drop of £1,990, and the Abarth 600e starts at £33,995, a £2,990 reduction. On-the-road prices for Grande Panda electric Pop start at £20,995, while the Icon version is priced at £21,995 and the top-of-the-range La Prima is £24,035.
The prices confirm the company’s presence in the unique group of less than 20 models out of a total of over 370 all-electric cars that cost under €30,000.
Suzuki’s offers run from now until the end of March and include their first all-electric model, the eVitara. Under the ‘Suzuki Granted’ scheme, customers will benefit from a saving of £3,750 on every model in the e VITARA range.
Taking the 49kWh Motion model as an example, the customer price remains at £26,249 through until the end of March and is applicable across the five-model e VITARA range.
All versions are available on a 2.9% APR PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) in addition to a free Ohme home charger to retail customers.
Across the Swift range, Suzuki now offers a 0% PCP arrangement over four years. For the 1.2-litre Hybrid Motion model with manual transmission, an initial deposit of £1,494 is followed by 48 monthly payments of £199 with the usual optional final payment to keep the car.
It is also available with no minimum deposit and payment amounts adjusted accordingly.
Kia’s offers also run from now until the end of March and feature their multi award-winning fully electric models – including the Kia EV3, the 2025 UK Car of the Year and 2025 World Car of the Year – which are now available with finance deposit contributions. This includes up to £3,000 towards all grades of EV3, as well as the EV4 ‘GT-Line’ and ‘GT-Line S’.
A £1,500 contribution is available towards the EV4 Fastback, EV5, EV6, EV6 GT, EV9, and EV9 GT, while a £1,000 contribution is available for the EV4 ‘Air’.
All fully electric models are each available with 3.9% APR finance offers, and no minimum customer deposit. In addition, existing Kia Finance customers looking to upgrade into a new fully electric Kia can save a further £1,000 with the ‘Kia EV Finance Upgrade’ loyalty incentive.