Only 3300 leafs will be available by march? Nissan Denies.

[jason98]

http://i.green.autoblog.com/2010/08/16/nissan-dealer-says-only-3-300-leafs-will-be-available-in-u-s-by/

Basically it means that most of us will not get it this year and will not be able to get tax refund till 2012. Also now I am afraid 5000 from Cali may also run down before that.

Edit : According to nissan-leaf.net, Nissan has called the number speculation.

Thankfully, the only news I have to report is good…specifically that according to Nissan, Mr. Kamins projections on worldwide production, and more importantly to us, deliveries in the US are not backed up by Nissan themselves, and are “purely speculative on Mossy’s part.” While adding that “Production allocation is based on number of customer orders. Our order window opens in a few weeks. The general manager has no special insight.”

I’m not sure if it was some corporate humor to clarify the original rollout areas, but they also took the time to reiterate, “5 states (not cities) start deliveries in Dec. We add Texas and Hawaii in January. The SE (south east) from DC, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, south to Florida and Georgia,” summing the whole thing up, by once again assuring the ’rest’ of the US by adding, “then balance of the country by Fall 2011.”

 

[cdub]

If you're in CA - then rest assured you'll definitely get a Leaf in 2011. This is "by March btw" only 3 months into 2011.

 

[EVDRIVER]

http://i.green.autoblog.com/2010/08/16/nissan-dealer-says-only-3-300-leafs-will-be-available-in-u-s-by/

Basically it means that most of us will not get it this year and will not be able to get tax refund till 2012. Also now I am afraid 5000 from Cali may also run down before that.

It's California, we don't use Cali here, at least not if you were born here

 

[Gavin]

Born there...Santa Monica Hospital...1961....

But I don't live there any more...I use Cali all the time...mostly because it pisses off my Cali friends and family...

Worse is calling San Fransisco "Frisco"--ha they hate it. San Fran will always be just "The City" to me...that's what we would write on the cardboard when we hitch hiked from Berkeley into the city.

California in the 60's and 70's...gah, fun times...doubt those strange and wild yet innocent years will ever be recaptured...heck, we were poor as hell yet live on 3rd street in Santa Monica in a big old house...I highly doubt that is the case today.

Gavin

 

[lne937s]

I have a feeling that Nissan is slowing initial deliveries in the US because SAE is dragging its feet on setting a Level 3 standard. It would be a pain to have to retrofit all the cars (and chargers) already delivered.

Japan, by comparison, will already have the entire country connected with standardized Level 3 chargers at launch- so it makes sense to deliver the majority of cars there first.

In terms of the California rebate- there aren't too many cars that compete with the LEAF for the funds (Volt doesn't qualify, Tesla doesn't sell many cars), so the money should still be there.

 

[mwalsh]

I have a feeling that Nissan is slowing initial deliveries in the US because SAE is dragging its feet on setting a Level 3 standard.

That's what I am beginning to think too.

 

[cdub]

I'm not sure - the port can be changed quite easily. (i'm sure they'll do it at no additional cost past the $700 already paid)

But who knows...

 

[LEAFguy]

LEAF US price = $32,780

LEAF Japan price ~ $41,000

 

[EVDRIVER]

Born there...Santa Monica Hospital...1961....

But I don't live there any more...I use Cali all the time...mostly because it pisses off my Cali friends and family...

Worse is calling San Fransisco "Frisco"--ha they hate it. San Fran will always be just "The City" to me...that's what we would write on the cardboard when we hitch hiked from Berkeley into the city.

California in the 60's and 70's...gah, fun times...doubt those strange and wild yet innocent years will ever be recaptured...heck, we were poor as hell yet live on 3rd street in Santa Monica in a big old house...I highly doubt that is the case today.

Gavin

Yes- Frisco is the worse and San Fran is second in line. The "city" is correct. Don't do it Gavin, I will find you and send you off to Jersey where they love those terms

 

[EVDRIVER]

I have a feeling that Nissan is slowing initial deliveries in the US because SAE is dragging its feet on setting a Level 3 standard.

That's what I am beginning to think too.

But they don't even know how many people even will order L3. Nissan CS also says to ignore ABG, they don't need to tell me how bad ABG is on facts and speculation, they are the green gossip blog. If ABG were to write something of fact and interest they could write about the AV pricing. Nissan CS also says that the "new" AV policy is you can buy the EVSE direct and it has no impact on your order, supposedly Nissan came down hard on AV recently.

 

[driveleaf]

FWIW, Nissan EV Support denies the rumor:

Shannon:
I heard today that Nissan is lowering the number of leafs brought to the US before March. Do you have any information about that?

Ryan (evcustomersupport):
I haven't heard that. Nissan hasn't changed production or delivery plans.

 

[stanley]

Leafguy`s response appears to be correct. Nissan makes more money per car on a sale in Japan than in the US. Also, Japan is their home base and they probably want to satisfy all orders there first. Making the US wait longer for cars because they want to satisfy their home market may be a huge mistake because some U S customers were expecting their cars a lot sooner and can not or are unwilling to wait. In the end , the decision to send only 3,300 cars to the US may hurt the total number of sales they would otherwise have in the US and Nissan`s overall profit picture as well

 

[LakeLeaf]

LEAF US price = $32,780

LEAF Japan price ~ $41,000

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

IF there is a change in rollout timing, it's about money not some silly standard. If it was about the standard, Nissan could roll out in the US without the L3 and install it at the dealers 3 or 6 months from now.

 

[KeiJidosha]

Strong Yen also makes LEAF exports less profitable;

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2010/08/yens-strength-makes-it-unprofitable-for-toyota-to-export-yaris-and-corolla-to-us.html

Nissan would rather sell you a Smyrna LEAF made in the US, than an Oppama import. Better margins.

 

[evnow]

LEAF US price = $32,780

LEAF Japan price ~ $41,000

First of all - it is not a big change. I'd have expected 5K - now it is 3.3K. Can be easily explained by slow rampup.

Second, Nissan isn't going to damage their strategy because of a few Million here and there, what with Ford, Toyota & Honda breathing down their necks.

 

[leafster]

Does anyone intend to cancel their order due to Nissan's apparent uncertainty about how many cars they are sending to the US? I live in the SF bay area and have a September order date, but at this point if I won't see a car until March or April I'm just not going to bother. I won't wait until I spent $2400 on my home charger and loose the $5,000 CA rebate because its all used up. Anyone else planning to cut their losses and cancel if the wait becomes longer than Nissan stated at the beginning?

 

[evnow]

I won't wait until I spent $2400 on my home charger ...

Nobody cuts their nose to spite the face. Checkout Leviton EVSE thread.

 

[leafster]

Its not about the 2400, I was prepared to spend that, but I won't spend it without a clue of when the car is coming. Obviously anyone who spends it won't backout, so I will make my decision before spending 2400, plus the 5000 if the incentives are gone. Not to mention I work for another auto manufacturer, so getting the leaf is purely for the coolness and technology factor, its a loosing proposition for me no matter what, cost wise.

 

[cdub]

Does anyone intend to cancel their order due to Nissan's apparent uncertainty about how many cars they are sending to the US? I live in the SF bay area and have a September order date, but at this point if I won't see a car until March or April I'm just not going to bother. I won't wait until I spent $2400 on my home charger and loose the $5,000 CA rebate because its all used up. Anyone else planning to cut their losses and cancel if the wait becomes longer than Nissan stated at the beginning?

I'm in the same boat. HOWEVER - your fears are unfounded. If only 3300 (so so cars will be delivered by March) the $5,000 car rebate will not be used up. And also, I've heard of January delivery's for September orders.

 

[leafster]

Well, January is still ok for me. But the 3300 is divided between all launch areas, and we don't know how many of those would come to just California. There is $9,000,000 planned for the rebate budget though, so that's enough for 1800 Leaf's ($9,000,000 / $5,000), not including any Tesla or other eligible vehicle rebates redeemed.