Poll : Will Volt "sales" top Leaf "sales" for October ?

[evnow]

It is that time of the month again. No - I don't plan to run this every month - but this is a crucial month - for Volt.

Volt has been selling less than production for the past couple of months. This could be because of the lag between production & sales - or may be there isn't that much demand for Volt. We should know this month. Afterall, GM president says 4,000 Volts will be available this month.

http://www.plugincars.com/gm-president-demand-chevy-volt-still-unknown-108134.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GM delivered 700 Volts last month—its best month yet, said Reuss. "So our availability of the Volt this month will be close to 4,000 units," he said.

Ofcourse, unless something has changed, Leaf deliveries should be a little over 1,000, as it has been for months. This could mean Volt will start outselling Leaf - until TN plant comes online. Afterall more Volts are produced each month than Leafs allocated to US.

 

[charlestonleafer]

I think Chevy is going to have to release some incentives, or lower the price soon. I noticed they lowered it for the 2012's but they still have 2011's on the lots? Nobody is going to buy a 2011 for more than a 2012. If they lower prices or get some dealer incentives going, they have inventory in their corner. I know in the Charleston, SC area alone there'e 20 or so sitting on the lots, ready to roll. As for October though, I think the Leaf will be in the lead (where I like it)

 

[Herm]

Incentives or just curb dealer markup.. $50k for a Volt has to hurt.

 

[LKK]

Looked at my paper this morning and saw an ad from a local Chevy dealer offering $1,000 off the Volt's MSRP. Since discounts happen when supply exceed demand there's either a lot of Volts being made or less interest, or both. I expect Volt sales to increase now that production is up and sales are going nationwide, but the $40K price tag and the lack of incentives from the state, at least states like California, is a pretty steep hill for a lot of consumers to climb.

In the long run I hope the Volt does well, as I hope all electric cars do well. It is in the best interests for all of us.

 

[surfingslovak]

Incentives or just curb dealer markup.. $50k for a Volt has to hurt.

Discounts have to be coming soon. One particular dealer, Christopher Chevrolet in Ontario, CA, ran a pretty agressive deal two weekends in a row now.

 

[evnow]

I think Chevy is going to have to release some incentives, or lower the price soon. I noticed they lowered it for the 2012's but they still have 2011's on the lots? Nobody is going to buy a 2011 for more than a 2012.

The lowered 2012 price is for decontented Volt. Comparing Volts similarly featured, 2011 model is cheaper than 2012.

 

[smkettner]

I think Chevy is going to have to release some incentives,

This is marketing 101 in the US. It is not about the price you pay but how much you save :roll:

 

[SanDust]

Missed last month but I'm still going with the Volt. 2000/month for the rest of the year. Cars.com shows there are 3563 new Volts available today. On 10/17 there were 3383. On 10/18 there were 3125. On 10/19 there were 3154. Unless they aren't shipping any the steady numbers means they're selling as fast as they can deliver.

Of the 3383 that cars.com reports are available, roughly 2200-2500 of these are demos that can't be sold. That leaves 1263 or so. But it takes three weeks to ship from the factory to the dealer, which means that 1263 would only represent 425 a week currently in transit. At 425/week that's only 1700 a month but they're making 150/day, and not all of these can be going to Europe, so I think that's just lumpy shipping more than anything and I'm sticking with 2000.

We'll know shortly.

Still doesn't mean anything other than production is being ramped up. We'll see at the end of next year. 45K units of a car priced at $40K isn't a gimme. For the Leaf we'll need to wait a while longer.

 

[jhm614]

I think it's going to be neck and neck this month -- with the Leaf just barely winning. The it will be Volt for the rest of the year. Although based on SanDust's numbers, maybe this is the month that the Volt pulls in front...

 

[JeffN]

That leaves 1263 or so. But it takes three weeks to ship from the factory to the dealer, which means that 1263 would only represent 425 a week currently in transit. At 425/week that's only 1700 a month but they're making 150/day, and not all of these can be going to Europe, so I think that's just lumpy shipping more than anything and I'm sticking with 2000.

We'll know shortly.

Someone at GM-volt just claimed the October sales number is 1108. October production was said to be 2228.

GM is still in the nationwide rollout process. I run Google news searches for Volt news and I still see almost daily articles from local town newspapers about their first Volt having just arrived at the local dealership.

When I was impatiently waiting for my Volt to ship from the factory last year I was told it can take up to 6 weeks for GM cars to arrive in California from the factories in Michigan. The cars are shipped at low priority (low cost) and so spend a lot of time in rail cars at transfer junctions waiting to be connected to the next train as the railroads optimize their routing.

GM makes it possible for owners to learn their railcar number and many kept themselves occupied tracking their car as it sat, sometimes for days, on side tracks waiting to be hooked to a train to the next transit point or finally loaded onto a truck for final delivery.

 

[ENIAC]

Looks like Volt out sold the LEAF in the US by 259 units. 849 LEAFs to 1108 Volts.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1068042_october-electric-car-sales-chevy-volt-outsells-nissan-leaf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Rusty]

If Leaf sales are down this month as Zachary says due to the 2011/2012 transition, then that may be similar to the Volt production/sales drop from July into September from GM's transition. So, but for that, sales of both cars would have probably been nearly identical for October, and generally trending up. This is good news for all EVs (or, at least it's not bad news).

If Nissan has 2012 Leafs in the delivery pipeline now it'll continue to be interesting to see if both models continue to up-tick in sales through year-end. Volt's production will probably take a hit in December for holiday factory closures, so the Leaf should have an edge in January?

 

[SanDust]

Although based on SanDust's numbers, maybe this is the month that the Volt pulls in front...

Yes the Volt pulled in front. But my numbers were way off. Missed by 50%. Saved by missing the Leaf numbers too.

GM didn't make as many Volts as I thought they would. More like 110/day than the 150/day I was thinking of. Still there are Volts that seem to be MIA. Cars.com is funky, it lists demos and cars that have been delivered will show up there for weeks after the sale, but it should be consistently funky. If the inventory numbers stay consistent then everything going into the pipeline has to be coming out on the other end. You can't start with 3300 in process, add 2200, keep 3300 in process, and end up with 1100 deliveries.

No doubt there is an explanation but I have no idea what it is.

 

[Train]

I missed this post but I would have guessed the Leaf to sell more last month so I would have been wrong.

 

[smkettner]

Volt may well out sell Leaf in the US until TN productions starts.

Soon we will have a more comparable shoot out with Focus.
I will let Volt compete vs the plug in Prius.

 

[DaveEV]

Volt may well out sell Leaf in the US until TN productions starts.

In the US, anyway. Worldwide I suspect that Nissan is selling a lot of LEAFs - wonder how many...

 

[charlestonleafer]

I don't know whether or not this covers the entire world, but it has Japan and US.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2883

 

[GPowers]

We were at a local Chev dealership Thur night to celebrate Chevrolet's 100 anniversary. When I saw this line of Volt sitting on the lot. There were 10 in this line with more in front of the dealership.

Kind of a lot of Volts to be sitting around. So are then selling?

 

[SanDust]

Kind of a lot of Volts to be sitting around. So are then selling?

Last June I went to a fan store at the strip mall next to Mossy. Looking across to Mossy you could see nine or ten Leafs parked in a row in the back. Plus there were a couple on the side/front. My assumption was that they had just gotten in a shipment and there were going to be some new happy Leaf owners. Perhaps that was a wrong assumption?

 

[GPowers]

Last June I went to a fan store at the strip mall next to Mossy. Looking across to Mossy you could see nine or ten Leafs parked in a row in the back. Plus there were a couple on the side/front. My assumption was that they had just gotten in a shipment and there were going to be some new happy Leaf owners. Perhaps that was a wrong assumption?

You never know, But Leafs are mainly sold through the online reservation system. Volts are sold off the lot with the traditional salesman etc...