Nissan has sold more than 35,000 units of its five-door hatchback EV, which features a rechargeable battery instead of a gas engine, since its debut in late 2010. But the pace of Leaf sales has slowed recently, falling 50% from last year in August to just 685 vehicles in the U.S., where it sold a total of 9,674 units in 2011.
While demand from Americans has been sluggish so far this year, Nissan's CEO didn't back away from a 20,000 sales goal for the Leaf in the U.S. for the fiscal year through March.
"It's too early to (make a) call on the objective for the year, even though we recognize that the start of the year has been slow," he said, blaming a lack of charging stations and unease with new technology.
The company has forecast global sales for the Leaf of 40,000 in the current fiscal year and 1.5 million EVs by 2016 for both Nissan and its alliance partner, Renault SA, where Mr. Ghosn also serves as CEO and chairman.