LEAF sales disappointing? Duh, what do you expect?

[Cheezmo]

According to this article http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/27693/, 579 Leafs were sold in March (I guess I was one of the last ones.

 

[JPWhite]

If you have specific suggestions for them, we can pass them along. We know that they (or their PR firm) does watch the forum, too.

Yes I have a couple of suggestions.

1) Require EVERY Nissan dealer to have one of every color Leaf on the lot for buyers to see and drive.

2) Require EVERY Nissan dealer to provide a public charge station that can be accessed 24x7 and that means 365 days a year.

And that charging station better be QC. How else will Nissan differentiate the vehicle from the Volt and Focus?

 

[TonyWilliams]

SWEET! We had a Coda unveiling last month (joint with EAA) and attendance was 110 (or so they say, only 75 signed the guest log). It's a big draw. I'll make it down there for a meeting sometime soon--this Saturday we have the Campbell Easter Parade where we are trying to get the largest ever participation of LEAFs in an Easter Parade.

I think we're "in the hunt" ratio wise, compared to the population of the Bay area compared to San Diego.

We have a population (2010 census) of 3,095,313, and the 9 county SF Bay area is over 7 million. We've got the local newspapers notified, so we'll get a free announcement for "Lookie Lou's" to come by.

 

[gascant]

SWEET! We had a Coda unveiling last month (joint with EAA) and attendance was 110 (or so they say, only 75 signed the guest log). It's a big draw. I'll make it down there for a meeting sometime soon--this Saturday we have the Campbell Easter Parade where we are trying to get the largest ever participation of LEAFs in an Easter Parade.

I think we're "in the hunt" ratio wise, compared to the population of the Bay area compared to San Diego.

We have a population (2010 census) of 3,095,313, and the 9 county SF Bay area is over 7 million. We've got the local newspapers notified, so we'll get a free announcement for "Lookie Lou's" to come by.

Well, the 110 wasn't typical--more like 65-70 for a "regular" meeting. Our local newspaper hasn't been all that supportive or cooperative. Maybe it's time to find another reporter there who's a little more into it.
You guys are doing great to have 50 already. I think we crossed that threshold at Gathering #5. But we digress. There was a good article in autoblog green about EV sales not starting to ramp for a few years yet. You can see that here:
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1074544_electric-cars-are-coming-but-it-will-be-slow-why-is-this-so-hard-to-grasp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[surfingslovak]

There was a good article in autoblog green about EV sales not starting to ramp for a few years yet. You can see that here:
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1074544_electric-cars-are-coming-but-it-will-be-slow-why-is-this-so-hard-to-grasp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Howard, yes, that's a well-researched article. John Voelcker, the author of this piece, posts regularly in the ActiveE group on Facebook. Here's a link to a thread he started the other day. You are welcome to chime in there, or ask him if he wanted to discuss the article here on MNL or in our Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/239198747743/10150758116697744/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[PaulScott]

Sorry to hear about all the lame dealers out there. They just don't understand what this movement is all about.

I work for Nissan of Downtown LA and we always have L2 stations available, five of them open 24/7. Having a QC station would be nice, but we'd have to carve out some space for it. It's kind of tight there. I'm not too sure of the economics, but I bet we could come up with something fair. I do agree it would help sales.

THE VERY GOOD NEWS IS, we are now getting LEAF allocations without anyone having to go through that less than friendly customer journey. I just got 5 last week, and we have 16 more coming. I have all colors and they are all SLs.

While January and February were very slow, it has really picked up in March, and seems to be continuing in April. I think the great Fox News story on the Volt has had an effect, but the gas prices are most of it.

 

[JPWhite]

Sorry to hear about all the lame dealers out there. They just don't understand what this movement is all about.

That's a fact, Jack!

While January and February were very slow, it has really picked up in March, and seems to be continuing in April. I think the great Fox News story on the Volt has had an effect, but the gas prices are most of it.

[/quote]

That's a good point. If the Volt is successful, that will help the LEAF and visa versa. The true competition is EV vs ICE, not LEAF Vs Volt.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i have to say the level of "disappointment" in Leaf sales is EXACTLY EQUAL to the level of disappointment concerning the progress of public charging infrastructure. we are supposed to be less than 12 weeks away from having over 400 DCQC's installed AND Running in 5 different states from the EV Highway Project.

 

[SanDust]

Sorry to hear about all the lame dealers out there. They just don't understand what this movement is all about.

I work for Nissan of Downtown LA and we always have L2 stations available, five of them open 24/7. Having a QC station would be nice, but we'd have to carve out some space for it. It's kind of tight there. I'm not too sure of the economics, but I bet we could come up with something fair. I do agree it would help sales.

...

While January and February were very slow, it has really picked up in March, and seems to be continuing in April. I think the great Fox News story on the Volt has had an effect, but the gas prices are most of it.

Not to put words in your mouth, but I think you're saying that you don't see a huge demand from customers, especially in January and February. No real pull on the demand side. That is something of an answer to the question of whether the low monthly sales numbers are due to supply constraints.

I think you're on to something when discussing the level of engagement of different Nissan dealerships. What I think we're seeing on the Volt side is that some dealers are figuring out how to market and sell the car but the vast majority haven't. So there are spots of success not widespread success. But then the less successful dealers see the successful ones and start thinking "why can't I do that". Then there is some emulation and so forth and the dealership network starts having success. That may just be how it has to work. If this is the case, then the web based rollout used by Nissan for the Leaf may have retarded the process, and we're seeing the effects of that now.

On the DC charger, if you have demand charges, then the economics of DC charging will be difficult to deal with.

 

[cdub]

I work for Nissan of Downtown LA and we always have L2 stations available, five of them open 24/7. Having a QC station would be nice, but we'd have to carve out some space for it. It's kind of tight there. I'm not too sure of the economics, but I bet we could come up with something fair. I do agree it would help sales.

That's great to hear that they are open 24/7. Hopefully other dealers do the same.

 

[gascant]

Sorry to hear about all the lame dealers out there. They just don't understand what this movement is all about.

Maybe what needs to happen is that the Dealers let their salespeople drive the demo LEAFs for a week, so that way they DO get it. (Oh, yeah, maybe they should do the same for the Service Managers. I gave mine a demo a few months ago and he loved it.)

 

[dwatson]

Puyallup Nissan has 'em. Last I checked, they had four.

I've been looking for just about a year, and other than a couple in the SF Bay area, saw my first LEAF in the wild at the Kirkland Library last Saturday.

No surprise that you saw one in Kirkland. From my desk in Kirkland I can see three Leafs right now. One in my office parking lot, and two in the Costco parking lot. I have seen over 20 Leafs in the wild now. I now only keep track of times I see multiples in one parking lot, and even that is becoming normal.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

The other day a friend was asking me about the Leaf and says "So you can't buy those now can you?"

Maybe this perception stems from confusion with the Volt, which another person recently told me GM has discontinued.

 

[cwerdna]

The other day a friend was asking me about the Leaf and says "So you can't buy those now can you?"

Maybe this perception stems from confusion with the Volt, which another person recently told me GM has discontinued.

Weird! I'd never heard about the above perceptions about either car. Sigh...

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

not sure if this has been said, but maybe the way Dealers are prevented from gauging customers as easily has taken some away from sales. not that I would want this but maybe if the dealer's had more profit to make, they'd promote the car more. Seems to me that the dealers mostly have a rather passive "it will sell itself" relationship with the Leaf, perhaps reflective of a rather fixed and minimal profit margin.

when I first heard how much people were paying for Prius's when they were in short supply, it actually made me take notice of them more and consider buying one. My guess is that Nissan is selling exactly as many Leaf's as they were expecting to at this stage, taking advantage of a slow and steady roll out, making a few fine tunings leading up to what may be the big push for sales in the next few years once the TN plant opens and they stand to make more profit per car. Perhaps at that point they will let the dealers have a bunch on hand and sell them for whatever they want.

 

[PaulScott]

"Perhaps at that point they will let the dealers have a bunch on hand and sell them for whatever they want."

Here at Nissan of Downtown LA, we are already getting a set supply based on the previous two month's sales figures. I'm getting interest in the car similar to that of the beginning of last year. Lots of calls and test drives and quite a few sales. It's much nicer having someone walk in off the street and take a test drive, then buy the car that day. No more waiting, I love it!

 

[dwatson]

The other day a friend was asking me about the Leaf and says "So you can't buy those now can you?"

Maybe this perception stems from confusion with the Volt, which another person recently told me GM has discontinued.

To clarify, both the Leaf and the Volt are both currently selling.

GM was idling their Volt factory temporarily but it is a current and future car still.

 

[TomT]

There seems to be sufficient supply at many dealers. The one a few miles from me has four sitting on the lot as of last week...

"Perhaps at that point they will let the dealers have a bunch on hand and sell them for whatever they want."

 

[GlennD]

I looked on the website and found a Leaf in my favored color available. I looked at it and purchased it right then and there. I love my Leaf and it fits my current needs.

I WOULD NOT HAVE ORDERED THE CAR! I am a I like it and get it now person. I would guess Nissan has lost many sales with the order and ripoff charger deal.

 

[mkjayakumar]

I did exactly the same thing. I test drove one day and drove it home two days later..