Ford discounts Explorer and Capri by £5k amidst Chinese EV dominance
Ford has slashed the price of its all-electric Capri and Explorer by up to £5,070 as it continues its bid to persuade motorists to switch from internal combustion to electric.
Pricing for the Explorer SUV has been dropped from £4,035 to £4,800, depending on the powertrain and trim level. However, the price reductions mean that the entry-level, Style model with its rear-mounted motor and 58kWh battery now costs £35,185.
Meanwhile, the flagship, 77kWh-batteried all-wheel-drive (AWD) Ford Explorer Premium now costs less than £50,000. Before the discount, it started at just under £54,000.
Its crossover sibling, the Ford Capri EV, has been reduced from between £4,080 and £5,070. The base model using the same Style nomenclature and 58kWh battery as the Explorer now starts at £36,985.
The extra toys now include an updated version of Ford’s Sync infotainment system, improved cruise control, a reversing assistant, driver monitoring, and a three-pin outlet that can power devices up to 2.3kW.
Ford is reported to have made the price cuts to remain competitive in the UK’s “highly competitive EV market”. Similarly, Rivals from Stellantis and even the once-dominant Tesla have reduced prices in response to increasingly cheaper competition from China.
The stratospheric rise of Chinese EVs in the UK was underlined once again in March this year, when the Jaecoo 7 stormed to the top of the UK car sales chart with over 10,000 registrations in that month alone. Almost two years ago, Jaecoo was a largely unknown brand on British shores.
In May last year, Shenzhen-based BYD broke Tesla’s long-term stranglehold on the European EV market by outselling the Elon Musk-owned American brand 7,231 EVs to 7,165.
After controversially axing the Fiesta in 2023, Ford promised last year to revive its best-seller as an EV. Scheduled for arrival in 2028, the electric Fiesta will be based on the AmpR underpinnings used by Renault for several of its electric-only models, including the multi-award-winning Renault 5. As well as the Fiesta, the Blue Oval’s equally famous Focus nameplate is set for a return on the same platform.
