Motorists, car dealers see red at electric vehicle price hikes

AMMAN — Electric vehicle clearance witnessed a 227 per cent increase in the first seven months of 2022, prompting negative reactions from the public and car dealers due to the price hikes.

The Jordan Free Zones Investor Commission (JFZIC), on Tuesday revealed that this year’s January-July period witnessed the clearance of 8,648 vehicles, compared with 2,643 vehicles in 2021.

It added that the same period witnessed clearance for 5,777 hybrid vehicles, marking a drop of 42.3 per cent, when compared with the same period last year.

“There is nothing left in the country these days that did not increase in price. And vehicle price hikes are not showing any signs of slowing,” Mahmoud Bseiso, a car dealer, told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

Fuelling a car has become more expensive, so people shifted to electric vehicles that are environmentally friendly and cheaper to own, but with “unstoppable” soaring prices, people will end up with no choice, particularly amid challenging economic conditions, Bseiso noted.

He said that soaring prices and the current supply situation have negatively impacted car dealers in Jordan and globally.

Electric cars became widely available in the Kingdom, however, continuous price increases might affect peoples’ decisions to buy a car, according to Khaled Laham, a salesman at an automobile company.

“Shortfalls of new vehicles due to slow production, and the rising clearance prices of electric cars are truly a challenge to our sector,” Laham noted, adding that customers cannot afford further rise in prices.

New and used car prices are up, electric and hybrid vehicle prices are soaring, and people are not sure whether to buy a car now, or to wait just in case vehicle prices drop, Maria Al Malak, a Jordanian who is planning on buying an electric vehicle, told The Jordan Times.

“Instead of increasing clearance prices of electric cars, the government should encourage people to buy them given that they are environmentally friendly,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sharif Karim, who also plans to buy a new car, said that he wants to get an electric car as soon as possible, because he expects that prices will be rising.

“The car I wanted to buy at the beginning of 2022 is now more expensive so I need to get the best deal and buy it,” he said.