Monthly Order Allowance for Dealers

[ht2]

The following was just announced by NISSAN today in a Newsletter provided to EV Sales Leaders. I'm fairly certain this does not affect any orders already confirmed. For those of you (including me) with reservations who have been waiting to RAQ (Request A Quote), this policy change could definitely affect you.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or call me.

Nissan LEAF Dealer Monthly Order Allowance – FAQ
In order to allow fair and equitable vehicle availability in each launch state, starting on Thursday, October 21st, 2010, Nissan is applying a monthly order allowance for each dealer in Waves 1 and 1a (CA, AZ, HI, OR, WA, TN, and TX).
Each month, your (dealers') Nissan LEAF Customer Order Management Dashboard will include a static number on it. This number will represent the total number of LEAF customer orders you can process in that month. Once your store has reached its allowance, customers will not be able to send you any more order in that month and will be prompted to contact you directly for more information. The attached FAQ will give you more details regarding the order allowance.

Why is there a monthly order allowance? Why is it being put in place?
The allowance is simply a method to spread each month’s order production over a broader
number of Nissan LEAF dealers. The allowance will allow for equitable distribution of Nissan
LEAF vehicles within each state.

When will the monthly order allowance take affect?
The Monthly Order Allowance will launch on Thursday, October 21st

How often is the monthly order allowance calculated?
For the 2011 Nissan LEAF model year each dealer will receive a new allowance each month
(first week of each month).

How does the allowance work?
As an example, if a dealer has an allowance of 20 in December and reaches that number of
confirmed customer orders (20) within that month, the dealer will not be able to process
any more orders that month.

Scenario: A dealer is working through the RAQ/order process on the site with
Customer 1. While that is happening, the dealer confirms an order with Customer
2 on the site. Customer 2 received the dealer’s last available order based on the
dealer’s monthly order allowance. What happens to Customer 1?
Customers already working with a dealer on an active RAQ will be allowed to process an
order if the dealer has reached their allowance while that RAQ is active. An active RAQ is
defined as any time AFTER the customer submits the RAQ to that dealer. This also includes
if the order is being reworked between dealer and customer. If that RAQ becomes a
confirmed order, it will count against the dealer’s monthly order allowance in the following
month.

During the Request a Quote process how is the customer informed that the dealer
has reached their allowance?
Customers who try to select that dealer during the request a quote process will be informed
on the website that the dealer has reached their monthly order allowance and to contact the
dealer for more information.

Why is the customer told to contact the dealer?
Since the dealer and customer have most likely begun a dialogue, Nissan wants to make
sure the dealer has the opportunity to explain the monthly order process and how they will
serve their customers. Because the allowance is recalculated every month, and if the
customer is willing to wait, the customer could order a vehicle through that dealer in the
following month. Note that this may affect vehicle delivery timing.

How will each dealer know/receive their monthly order allowance number?
The number will appear on their Nissan LEAF Dealer Dashboard (accessed through
NNAnet.com>My Workspace>Nissan LEAF Customer Order Management). The number will
appear as “static” and not count down as orders are processed through the month. It will
only change when the next month’s allowance is in place.

My question is who made decision to start monthly order allowance for Leaf?
I'd like to send e-mail.
Can you give us name, title and e-mail address?

Thanks.

 

[tokenride]

Ok...I'm new here..My account has been stuck onthe assesment section since approved.

1. I put my $99 in April.

2. I plan on submitting the waiver.

3. Placing the order. Does this mean any money down?

4. Carwings?? What is that?

5. Pre-order? What is that?

I currently lease a Nissan Rouge and I have one more year to go before the 3 year lease is up I am planning to roll it into the Leaf.

Any suggestions and does my procrastination mean I put myself in a later place in line???

Thansk in advance!

 

[smkettner]

1,2,3) Submit the waiver. Then assuming your reservation time has come you may submit to your preferred dealer to get a quote. You can accept or continue to negotiate. No money down at this time. You still are not commited to buy and can back out even as the car gets to the dealer. It is just a commitment on price between you and the dealer if you choose to close the deal when the car arrives. You can choose lease or buy right up to finalizing the deal.

4) Carwings is the communication system you can use to control the charging and Carwings brings in the needed GPS and charge station data to the car. First three years subscription is included.

From my panel:
your Nissan LEAF™ comes equipped with a 3-year subscription to CARWINGS*. in combination with your computer or compatible smartphone, this onboard information system lets you:

find the newest, nearest charger by updating charging station locations on your Nissan LEAF's navigation system
remotely check vehicle charge status and start charging so you can be sure your Nissan LEAF is ready to go when you are
remotely start, stop, or set the climate control timer to pre-warm or cool your car without using your battery
stay informed with charge complete notices, plug in reminders
plot your route with a map that includes charging station locations
Prior to your scheduled delivery date of your Nissan LEAF, we'll be in touch with instructions on how to activate CARWINGS so you can explore all its features and functionality before you start driving.


5) Preorder? You mean Prepurchase, yes?

From my panel:
before you pick up your Nissan LEAF, you will be able to learn about and access NMAC financing pre-approval and discuss any vehicles you may have to be considered for trade.

 

[stanley]

smkettner, The information you provided reads that a COMPATABLE cell telephone can be utilized with the Crawlings . Can Verizon`s Droid be used or will only AT&T tecknology link up

 

[smkettner]

No idea. I turn on my cell phone only five or eight times a year.
I know nothing about cellphone connectivity, texting or browsing.
I have not even set up my message mailbox.
I would have to look at my bill to even get the number.

"carwings" in the search box should find more info

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

smkettner, The information you provided reads that a COMPATABLE cell telephone can be utilized with the Crawlings . Can Verizon`s Droid be used or will only AT&T tecknology link up

AT&T is the service provider for the car to the network. The Car doesn't talk to your phone -- it talks to Carwings Central over AT&T's wireless network.

You can get to your own Carwings information over any internet connection -- home internet, or your mobile phone. There will be applications for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, on whatever network you want to use. Or you can use dialup over a modem -- however you want to connect to the Internet.


The Blink EVSE (both public ones and your home EVSE) will connect over WiFi, or over a CDMA network (Sprint or Verizon) if it can't use WiFi. It talks to the blinknetwork. Like Carwings, you can access the blink network from any of your internet-connected computers or devices.

(whew)

 

[stanley]

Groundloop, Thanks, for your thorough explanation!!

 

[Yanquetino]

What still isn't clear to me is exactly how Nissan is going to calculate the quota for a given dealer. Here's my guess... only a guess, obviously.

• Project the LEAF production for the upcoming months. Let's say... 1,000 for December; 1,200 for January; 1,800 for February, etc..
• Tally the total number of reservations in the initial rollout states. Let's say... 12,000 in WA, OR, CA, AZ, TN.
• Tally the total number of orders per dealer in those areas. Let's say that Boardwalk Nissan already has 300 orders lined up; a dealer in Phoenix has 80; a Spokane dealer has 30.
• Divide the dealers' orders by the total number of reservations.
• Times the monthly production by the dealer's percentage.

The results? This is what my spreadsheet shows:

There may be other monkey wrenches thrown into the works. For example, it was pointed out earlier that automakers tend to allocate quotas based upon dealers' total sales. I would hope that wouldn't be the case here, because the number of, say, X-Terras sold would not necessarily correlate with the number of LEAF reservation holders in a given area. In fact, if there were a correlation between those two vehicles, it might even be negative.

One thing for sure: these quotas have added a new twist to the delivery rollout. Wouldn't it be ironic if the 10 customers in Phoenix who have grouped together to take their deliveries from a WA dealer now won't get their LEAFs until after other reservation holders in their area --because the WA dealer has a smaller monthly quota!

 

[charlie1300]

From the first page of this thread, posted by a dealer:

"Without getting into the exact formula, it is based on the dealer's number of sedan sales (last 90 days), and the # of LEAF reservations in the dealer's market area, and the # of available LEAFS for that month."

So it is safe to say that within a market area, the dealer who has the highest Nissan sedan sales in the last 90 days gets the biggest share of the quota for that market area. The number of Leaf orders they have taken doesn't appear to be a factor.

 

[Yanquetino]

From the first page of this thread, posted by a dealer:

"Without getting into the exact formula, it is based on the dealer's number of sedan sales (last 90 days), and the # of LEAF reservations in the dealer's market area, and the # of available LEAFS for that month."

So it is safe to say that within a market area, the dealer who has the highest Nissan sedan sales in the last 90 days gets the biggest share of the quota for that market area. The number of Leaf orders they have taken doesn't appear to be a factor.

Right. Like I said: "as was pointed out earlier."

Nonetheless, how are "sedan" and "LEAF reservation" numbers entered into the formula? For example, does Nissan calculate the dealers' percentage of all sedan sales nationwide? Or only in the initial rollout areas? Do they then average the two percentages to determine a quota? Or do they simply add the raw numbers of sedans sold and LEAF reservations together and then calculate the percentage allowed?

If the latter, let's pretend that Boardwalk has only sold 10 sedans in the last three months: 300 LEAFs + 10 sedans = 310 total. Yet the Phoenix dealer has sold 260 sedans during that same period, thanks to a large fleet purchase in AZ: 80 LEAFs + 260 sedans = 340 total. Does that mean that Nissan will give a larger quota (28) to the Phoenix dealer in December, and a smaller quota (26) to Boardwalk --despite the latter's much larger number of reservations?

As you can see, there are still missing components to the distribution formula.

 

[charlie1300]

Well, this is all total speculation, since the dealer quoted declined to give the specific formula, but speculation is fun, so I'll bite. Given the general outline the dealer provided, I'll speculate as follows:

Suppose there are 500 Leafs to be delivered nationwide in a given month. Suppose that 10% of the reservation holders getting a RAQ that month are in dealer A's market area, and dealer A sold 50% of all Nissan Sedans for his market area in the past 90 days.

So Dealer A quota for this month would be 500 X .1 X .5 = 25

This is assuming a linear calculation of the three factors - Nissan could give a "bonus" to high volume dealers, say 53% on the quota formula for 50% sales volume. But I'm thinking that would cause dissension amongst the dealers.

Note there is nothing for the dealer's current leaf orders in the calculation, because the dealer quoted didn't mention it, and I don't think Nissan will be using that metric. Leaf sales, when they occur, will become part of the total sedan sales.

I further speculate that the formula, whatever it is, is not new and unique to the Leaf, but is a variation of a standard Nissan quota formula used whenever there are tight supplies available to be allocated to dealers. The variation being the inclusion of the percentage leaf reservation holders in the dealer market area.

My last speculation is that Nissan is using the reservation system to match RAQ's released to Leafs produced to keep supply and demand even, as a way to keep dealers from price gouging, which is something some dealers may see as to their advantage, but is not good for Nissan Corp image. Note that all dealers who participate in this forum have stated that the quota system will not impact their ability to fill orders in a timely manner, or effect the pricing they are quoting. So Nisan might even be padding the number of Leaf's available (or restricting the RAQs) a little to make sure there is enough to go around. Nissan does need to keep the dealers happy, they are business partners.

 

[mossyleaf]

Sorry if I ruin some fun for some. Your allocation is based on your percentage of sedan sales in your state, and your percentage of leaf reservation holders in your primary market area.

 

[mossyleaf]

So to shed some more light, the only way you could have a "Giant" allocation is if you were a "Giant" dealer whos sold a "Giant" percentage of sedans in their state, and had a "Giant" percentage of Leaf reservationist in their primary market area. This is a really bad place to make deceptive or false statements, because the word couldn't travel any faster.

 

[smkettner]

I suggest we wait for even one post where a dealer runs out of allocation before getting all concerned

 

[Yanquetino]

Sorry if I ruin some fun for some. Your allocation is based on your percentage of sedan sales in your state, and your percentage of leaf reservation holders in your primary market area.

That adds to the fun, mossyleaf. Well... partially.

So... let's say that in the last 90 days a Portland dealer delivered 200 out of 400 sedans sold in Oregon (50%), and a Phoenix dealer delivered 300 out of 700 in Arizona (43%). This means that, even though the Phoenix dealer sold more sedans, the Portland dealer would have a bit more priority with the "sedan sales" component of the formula.

Next is the question: what constitutes a "primary market area"? No more than the LEAF's average 100 mile range, for example?

Let's say that the Portland dealer has 60 out of 180 LEAF reservations in her "primary market area" (30%), and the Phoenix dealer has 70 out of 350 reservations in his "primary market area" (20%). Again the Portland dealer trumps the Phoenix dealer, even though the latter has more reservations.

And how, then, do those two percentages work? Do they simple add together? For example, Portland would have: 50% + 30% = 80%. Phoenix: 43% + 20% = 63%. If so... then the Portland dealer gets more LEAFs, even though both the number of sedan sales and the number of LEAF reservations are lower than in Phoenix.

Is this the way it works?

By the way, this suggests that those 10 Phoenix customers who have ordered the LEAFs from WA will NOT tally in said dealer's "primary market area." They probably won't be happy to learn this.

 

[evnow]

Unless someone comes here are reports that their preferred dealer is out of allocation that month I'd not bother about this. Or if the prices go up.

Early days yet, but neither is happening.

 

[Clippy]

I suggest we wait for even one post where a dealer runs out of allocation before getting all concerned

I respectfully disagree. What the hell else do we have to talk about? Charger v. EVSE, boxer v. briefs, Gettys v. Kane, Ginger v. Mary Ann? How all of us late to the dance EV people are inferior to the experts?

I'm waiting for the exciting posts from early order people if it turns out that Big Dealer Whining cost them a shot at the $5000 California Rebate due to some bogus "allocation." You know the allocation that's really OK because it's restored order to the Car Dealership Universe.

Exciting times are ahead.

 

[LEAFfan]

By the way, this suggests that those 10 Phoenix customers who have ordered the LEAFs from WA will NOT tally in said dealer's "primary market area." They probably won't be happy to learn this.

You're too funny! :lol: It makes no difference because we ordered BEFORE this policy went into effect, so we are very happy! :mrgreen: Please do not worry yourself about it.

 

[LEAFguy]

One point should be kept in mind - all manufacturers have allocation allowances for all vehicles. Just because you have never heard of them before, does not mean that you have never been impacted by them before. The readers of this forum are intensely interested in this because you (we) have a vested interest. But don't think that Nissan did not have an allocation allowance in place in 2003 when the 350Z came out (even in the UK).

 

[EVDRIVER]

One point should be kept in mind - all manufacturers have allocation allowances for all vehicles. Just because you have never heard of them before, does not mean that you have never been impacted by them before. The readers of this forum are intensely interested in this because you (we) have a vested interest. But don't think that Nissan did not have an allocation allowance in place in 2003 when the 350Z came out (even in the UK).

And the point is? I think most people who have bought cars a few times know dealers have allowances and those who reserved early were not subject to one, then this changed. Why stop at 2003, how about a 240Z?