LEAF outsold all other Nissan models in 4 cities in April

[DeaneG]

There are now four Leafs (counting mine) on my short neighborhood street and an adjoining cul-de-sac. Many people at work have asked me about mine recently. I think there is a sort of critical mass developing in a few major cities where the general population is beginning to see EVs as viable and normal rather than an oddity, and with the new lower prices, possibly of benefit to them.

If this is Nissan's long-term strategy (forward-pricing to get to critical mass), I am impressed with their commitment and cojones.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

If other people are getting the same cheap lease deal I got I can understand why the Leaf would top the sales for Portland. Also, on May 15, 2013 the Leaf was the only electric car I could just walk in and acquire. If there was an electric Honda or a Fiat or Toyota or Smart at a local dealer they were keeping it secret. That made my choice pretty simple.

Focus EV or MiEV? we have both in town... a few MiEVs and one Focus EV although its more a show car than a "sell" car

 

[KJD]

all this happening while sales are still depressed due to supply issues.

The Nissan dealer closest to me has exactly 1 LEAF in stock. Why are there supply issues ?
I thought the TN plant was supposed to be over sized if anything.

 

[evnow]

I thought the TN plant was supposed to be over sized if anything.

I don't think they have completely switched over to TN drivetrain as yet ...

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

all this happening while sales are still depressed due to supply issues.

The Nissan dealer closest to me has exactly 1 LEAF in stock. Why are there supply issues ?
I thought the TN plant was supposed to be over sized if anything.

new plant, new product, new workers. still working out the kinks i am guessing. the battery manufacturing process is almost as exacting as creating microprocessors. batches take weeks to complete and there is no real way to tell how successful that batch is until its tested.

so where is the bottleneck? i dont think the ramp up of building the car would be that tough considering its a multi product line already. a huge influx of new workers can slow the process until they get up to speed so a bit of an issue but i think the real slowdown is the brand new battery plant which is truly starting from scratch.

 

[cgaydos]

Nissan just announced on their Facebook site that the 4 cities where the LEAF outsold all other models were, as they'd hinted in that photo:

Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Honolulu

The last one is probably the most surprising given that some forum members in Hawaii have posted about their challenge in getting good LEAF prices. OTOH, an island like Oahu is probably ideal for a car with the LEAF's range.

 

[cwerdna]

I'd imagine that some of the supply chain for the Leaf is US/North American based instead of Japan or other parts of Asia. Thus, there could be constraints at the supplier side.

When I worked on certain software that would go into what turned out to be hot selling hardware (not made nor sold by us), I knew there were lots of frustrated customers who would place orders, get no or a long ETA (weeks or even 1+ months), product was out of stock everywhere, etc. AFAIK, ramping up production of hardware wasn't just a matter of turning a knob up to 11...

 

[RonDawg]

Another potential bottleneck is trying to sort out quality control problems, such as the Leaf delivered with a "mostly" cloth interior, and a leather rear seat bottom cushion.

 

[KJD]

Nissan just announced on their Facebook site that the 4 cities where the LEAF outsold all other models were, as they'd hinted in that photo:

Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Honolulu

The last one is probably the most surprising given that some forum members in Hawaii have posted about their challenge in getting good LEAF prices. OTOH, an island like Oahu is probably ideal for a car with the LEAF's range.

Will this happen 2 months in a row ?
Have you heard anything about how May compares with April ?

 

[ksnogas2112]

My dealer just sold 2 in May. That's 2 more than they sold in April and March combined.

 

[DaveEV]

My dealer just sold 2 in May. That's 2 more than they sold in April and March combined.

That's in infinite increase in sales! If this keeps up in June Kansas will be flooded with LEAFs!

 

[cgaydos]

Nissan just announced on their Facebook site that the 4 cities where the LEAF outsold all other models were, as they'd hinted in that photo:

Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Honolulu

The last one is probably the most surprising given that some forum members in Hawaii have posted about their challenge in getting good LEAF prices. OTOH, an island like Oahu is probably ideal for a car with the LEAF's range.

Will this happen 2 months in a row ?
Have you heard anything about how May compares with April ?

May LEAF numbers are due to be published in early June - 3rd I think. However, the regional breakdowns are not published routinely, they only highlight details such as those above when it suits them.

 

[ksnogas2112]

My dealer just sold 2 in May. That's 2 more than they sold in April and March combined.

That's in infinite increase in sales! If this keeps up in June Kansas will be flooded with LEAFs!

And if it doesn't quit raining we'll just plain be flooded. (get it, plains be flooded, i'm soo funny)

 

[cgaydos]

Nissan social media just announced on their Facebook site that the LEAF had 2138 US sales in May. Short of March, which had a lot of pent-up demand, but a couple hundred more than April. A trend has been established.

I wonder who ExxonMoblie will commission to write an anti-EV screed in response?

 

[TomT]

To them, that number of vehicles is just noise...

I wonder who ExxonMoblie will commission to write an anti-EV screed in response?

 

[evnow]

I wonder who ExxonMoblie will commission to write an anti-EV screed in response?

I think we need to get out of the idea that somehow big oil is afraid of EVs. They realize we won't have oil for ever - and they know change over to EVs is a long drawn process. They are more interested in finding new sources of oil than worrying about demand. Remember there are millions of new car owners (i.e. people who haven't owned a car before) every year in China & India who more than make up any slackening of demand because of EVs.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I wonder who ExxonMoblie will commission to write an anti-EV screed in response?

I think we need to get out of the idea that somehow big oil is afraid of EVs. They realize we won't have oil for ever - and they know change over to EVs is a long drawn process. They are more interested in finding new sources of oil than worrying about demand. Remember there are millions of new car owners (i.e. people who haven't owned a car before) every year in China & India who more than make up any slackening of demand because of EVs.

+1 and they also know that every barrel of oil pulled out of the ground will be sold for a profit whether is $85 a barrel o $450 a barrel, every drop is profit. they will simply bank the money and waaaay before the last barrel is pumped from the ground, they will put out a comprehensive charging network that will have coverage that we simply wont be able to resist and every kwh sold will make them a profit...