Leaf production in TN

[charlestonleafer]

Does anyone know about how many Leafs are being produced out of TN monthly? We always see sales, I thought it might be cool to have the production numbers as a cross reference. Maybe even to use as a predictor for future buying incentives.

 

[Deleted member 9549]

Does anyone know about how many Leafs are being produced out of TN monthly? We always see sales, I thought it might be cool to have the production numbers as a cross reference. Maybe even to use as a predictor for future buying incentives.

Generally looks like it hasn't been enough. Look at monthly sales. Inventory has been going down. Indicates that they're making less than they're selling. They sold 2,138 in May, inventory was down a little, I can't find the number. So fairly safe to assume less than 2138 Leafs made in TN in May.

 

[swaltner]

Does anyone know about how many Leafs are being produced out of TN monthly? We always see sales, I thought it might be cool to have the production numbers as a cross reference. Maybe even to use as a predictor for future buying incentives.

Generally looks like it hasn't been enough. Look at monthly sales. Inventory has been going down. Indicates that they're making less than they're selling. They sold 2,138 in May, inventory was down a little, I can't find the number. So fairly safe to assume less than 2138 Leafs made in TN in May.

To give an idea of the production backlog and assembly time that they have, I ordered a Leaf SV from the local dealer on June 7. That likely went to the factory on June 10. Before ordering, the factory said the lead time was 6-9 weeks to build/deliver the Leaf. On Friday the 14th, I received the update that it is showing as "arriving in July", which would mean it's probably closer to the 6 week lead time than 9 weeks. It sounds like they'll give a little more accurate delivery window by the end of the week. How does that compare to the history for the factory? I would think the backlog is really what they are concerned about. Keep a good backlog at the factory so they don't need to slow down production.

I ended up and ordered one instead of buying off the lot because of stupid car dealers. The local dealer had an S on the lot and an SL that just arrived, but I wanted the SV (heat pump, but not added expense of SL). The local dealer offered to order, but I checked on cars.com and found a Leaf SV 375 miles away (not a bad trip with the pickup and a car trailer)At an out-of-state dealer. I tried to get them to give me the total price to buy the car for cash. Over the course of 9 days and numerous e-mails to two people at this dealer, they never would gave me a price telling me what all their add-on fees would be. What's the point of an Internet Sales Department if you don't give prices to people over the Internet? I finally sent them an e-mail saying something to the effect of "I guess you've sold too many cars this year to be bothered dealing with a cash buyer for a car you have on your lot. Piss off." A couple e-mails back and forth with the local dealer and they gave me a good price, so I stopped by and put down a deposit on the car the next day. I probably should send a picture to the manager at the out-of-state dealer when I receive the Leaf saying, "This could have been you".

 

[randerson44]

Does anyone know about how many Leafs are being produced out of TN monthly?

I can't speak to the final assembly, but it appears the Smyrna Battery Plant is producing 1200-1500 packs per month.

 

[jelloslug]

Does anyone know about how many Leafs are being produced out of TN monthly? We always see sales, I thought it might be cool to have the production numbers as a cross reference. Maybe even to use as a predictor for future buying incentives.

Generally looks like it hasn't been enough. Look at monthly sales. Inventory has been going down. Indicates that they're making less than they're selling. They sold 2,138 in May, inventory was down a little, I can't find the number. So fairly safe to assume less than 2138 Leafs made in TN in May.

To give an idea of the production backlog and assembly time that they have, I ordered a Leaf SV from the local dealer on June 7. That likely went to the factory on June 10. Before ordering, the factory said the lead time was 6-9 weeks to build/deliver the Leaf. On Friday the 14th, I received the update that it is showing as "arriving in July", which would mean it's probably closer to the 6 week lead time than 9 weeks. It sounds like they'll give a little more accurate delivery window by the end of the week. How does that compare to the history for the factory? I would think the backlog is really what they are concerned about. Keep a good backlog at the factory so they don't need to slow down production.

I ended up and ordered one instead of buying off the lot because of stupid car dealers. The local dealer had an S on the lot and an SL that just arrived, but I wanted the SV (heat pump, but not added expense of SL). The local dealer offered to order, but I checked on cars.com and found a Leaf SV 375 miles away (not a bad trip with the pickup and a car trailer)At an out-of-state dealer. I tried to get them to give me the total price to buy the car for cash. Over the course of 9 days and numerous e-mails to two people at this dealer, they never would gave me a price telling me what all their add-on fees would be. What's the point of an Internet Sales Department if you don't give prices to people over the Internet? I finally sent them an e-mail saying something to the effect of "I guess you've sold too many cars this year to be bothered dealing with a cash buyer for a car you have on your lot. Piss off." A couple e-mails back and forth with the local dealer and they gave me a good price, so I stopped by and put down a deposit on the car the next day. I probably should send a picture to the manager at the out-of-state dealer when I receive the Leaf saying, "This could have been you".

Just a little tip: "Cash deals" mean nothing to a dealer, in fact they mean that they will make nothing on the financing so they are even less interested in giving you a better price on car itself.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

I can't speak to the final assembly, but it appears the Smyrna Battery Plant is producing 1200-1500 packs per month.

That doesn't sound like all that many. Could be a contributing factor to Nissan's foot dragging on replacement packs, if a substantial number of people started buying replacements that cuts into the number of cars they can produce. I doubt they will sell many replacements in the near future, even at $5k, most people would have to be down a whole lotta bars to even think about spending that kind of dough... but the guys in the boardroom may not feel so sure.

 

[DanCar]

... it appears the Smyrna Battery Plant is producing 1200-1500 packs per month.

Why so little? Cheaper to produce in Japan? Production startup issues?

 

[Bateman]

I subscribe to the industry weekly paper Automotive News, which publishes weekly domestic production figures. Here are the Leaf production numbers out of TN:

Leaf Domestic Production:
May 2013: 1,755 units
6/3 - 6/8/2013: 477 units
1/1 - 6/8/2013: 10,854 units
1/1 - 6/9/2012: 0 units

Leaf Sales:
6,248 Domestic units sold CYTD through May 2013
1,366 Import units sold CYTD through May 2013
2,138 Domestic units sold in May 2013
0 Import units sold in May 2013 (510 sold during May 2012)

This puts ROUGHLY 3,000 to 3,500 units of unsold/unshipped Leaf inventory. With sales of 2,138 Leafs last month, that is about a 45 day supply of inventory spread across S, SV, and SL trim packages.

To put all of this in perspective, since the beginning of the year Nissan North America has built 649,891 cars this year, including (but not limited to):

Total Domestic Production through May 2013:
174,702 Altima sedans
102,955 Versas (2nd gen, Mex.)
97,933 Sentras (7th gen, Mexican production)
56,339 Pathfinders
55,962 Pickup/Chassis (Mex.) (Not Frontier or Titan)
30,737 Frontiers
28,861 Tsurus (Mex.)
26,874 Tiidas (Mex.)
19,936 Infiniti JX
17,439 Maxima
15,395 March
10,854 Leaf
7,231 Xterra
6,274 Altima coupe
5,571 NV commercial van
5,529 Titan
5,216 Armada
1,204 NV200 taxi (Mex.)
813 NV passenger van (Mex.)

Rogue, Murano, 370Z, GT-R, Cube, and Juke are all imported from Japan. Rogue being the only one of serious volume with 65,533 units sold. Murano at 17,409.

Of course, U.S Leaf production didn't really get going until recently. I'm sure that number could have been higher if it started from the beginning of the year. Also of note that a single week or month doesn't always tell the whole story. For example, Honda recently got some press about only producing 91 Acura ILX shortly after launch in March, as the line was ramping up on the very popular re-redesigned Civic.

 

[OrientExpress]

Don't forget that TN produces LEAFs for all of the Americas not just the US.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Noticed the Mexico reference. I was just in Mexico city and saw both the new Leaf Chargers in off of the Zocalo and a leaf cab dropping off a passenger at a mall near Sumaya.