Leaf Plus - Why so low inventory?

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Flyct

Well-known member
Leaf Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2015
Messages
647
Location
Bradenton, Florida, US
When we bought our 2019 Leaf Plus just 10 weeks ago I could only find 5 within a 250 mile radius of us. Those didn’t last on dealer lots for long. They all were sold within 2 weeks

I just looked today and there are only 2 within 250 miles. WHY IS THIS?

The additional range of our 19 Plus compared to our 40 kWh battery 2018 SL has increased the car’s utility tremendously for us. We now make a 130 mile one way trip to our cabin with no range anxiety and when we are local we only charge 1/2 as often.

So, why the low dealer inventory for the Leaf Plus? Is there something coming better shortly that I’m unaware of?
 
No idea. But it seems like a missed opportunity. In BC (my province) EV takeip is 8 percent of new sales and growing. If you order a leaf Eplus today you will be told it will be a minimum of 6 months to get one. That list has shortened a bit as it was 8 months when we ordered ours. At that point many people just say screw it and order a Tesla that they can have in 6 weeks.

Talking to the one chap at the dealership, as far as they know Nissan has no plans for additional production. They sell about 18 standard leafs a month....when they can get them. Good dealer actually. Two leaf techs. New building and well set up for EV growth. Three level 2 chargers for customers.
 
Though not spoken about online very much, I am guessing Nissan also has battery constraints on the number of bigger batteries is can sell, (Like Kia/Hyundai) but has better production capabilities for the 40kWh battery across multiple sites. This is reflected in the deeper discounts for the Leaf over the Leaf Plus and why the 40 is the only model available in many markets (Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, South Africa, LATAM, etc.). Its only selling the 62 in Europe, UK, US, Japan, and Canada I think due to competitive pressures in those markets, and in many of the markets only a top trim level to help manage demand.

Certainly even part of Teslas strategy in dropping the kWh badge on the cars is so that as they develop efficiencies, they can reduce the battery footprint on the same car while offering an equivalent EPA.
 
A quick review of the website shows that inventories are increasing.

Let's see if all of the utility company programs can help stoke demand in the US. I am a bit surprised they are not shipping more Leaf's to Canada given the backlog.
 
Assisted by various rebates and credits, it has been possible to buy a 30 KWH, or even 40 KWH, Leaf for under $20k, sometimes well under. Now the E+ goes for $35-40K after incentives. That is not a formula for increasing demand. My guess is that Nissan isn't selling that many units these days. Using the small sample of my local dealer, he used to have 20 or 30 Leaf vehicles of all models and colors on his back lot at any given time. He now has 2 or 3 available on his lot at any given time, maybe 1 of them is a plus.
 
The Plus goes for 25-32k after the Federal rebate. At the lower end, it’s not that far from a sedan or mid tier hatchback.

The non-plus is insanely cheap in some states.
 
Availability of the Plus was pretty good in the Denver area when we were looking in July, at least at the 2 leading dealerships, Tynan's in Aurora and Boulder Nissan. Other dealers, not so much.

Had a great experience at Boulder Nissan, for the record. They had several to choose from in a variety of colors. Salesperson was knowledgeable, no BS, no pressure, had an in-house expert they could go to who was credible. Very different experience from some other stories I've heard.

Possibly not the very best price in the end, but definitely feel we got a fair deal with our trade, incentives, etc. Came to within about $500 of a similarly equipped Corolla. Looking at it that way, I feel we got a great value.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
The Leaf would sell better if they reduced the incentives and msrp price. More would look at the car

Agreed. When I bought my Leaf, a new one (after incentives) was cheaper than virtually all the used Leaf's on the local CL. After I explained the incentives and final cost to a co-worker he bought one as well.
 
If manufacturers could acquire directly for themselves the various federal, state/regional, and local government incentives at time of sale they would advertise at the lower price and do this.

Even so, because incentives are different everywhere and often customer conditional (such as income), they still couldn’t bake this into a national lower MSRP.
 
In my area, NY, the only Leaf +s on the lots are SL models. Their stickers are $44-$45K... That is ridiculous.

They appear to be playing hardball with the consumers... I think they are willing to slow sales to a crawl on the Leaf +s to get the public numb to the price... Like Tesla does. I would guess that Nissan wants to make the + a "premium" brand, and are waiting for the public to accept that kind of pricetag as normal.

I certainly will never spend $45k on a car that is smaller than a Honda Civic.. I will keep my old Leaf and run it into the ground.
 
Another option is to wait for the 2019 to come off lease in 2022 and buy it after the initial severe depreciation has passed.

Just this month (Aug 2019) I bought a 2016 SL with Premium Package and 9500 miles for $14,500 (private party, could have bought one with 18k miles for $16,000 dealer price). The original MSRP was somewhere north of $37k.

This is an interesting web site for those looking at used cars:

http://usedfirst.com/cars/nissan/leaf/

Sue C
 
So, all of our local Nissan’s have almost no Leaf stock. I don’t know if supply is all going to Latam on this hemisphere or what. The large Leaf dealer in the area, which often has 1 to 2 dozen has only 2. The other 2 dealers have 0 and 1 available.

The dealer where I bought my leaf told me they can’t find Plus model to meet demand.

Will be curious tomorrow to see if August sales clocked up at all.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
So, all of our local Nissan’s have almost no Leaf stock. I don’t know if supply is all going to Latam on this hemisphere or what. The large Leaf dealer in the area, which often has 1 to 2 dozen has only 2. The other 2 dealers have 0 and 1 available.

The dealer where I bought my leaf told me they can’t find Plus model to meet demand.

Will be curious tomorrow to see if August sales clocked up at all.

Talked to a sales person at the dealer when we had the recall done. Told us all of their dealerships 2020 quota of e-pluses was already sold out. Ours is one of them. Expect to see it in March now. Crazy. My guess is they are extremely battery constrained.
 
What this topic appears to be saying is that Nissan has not committed to fully producing the E+.

I think that Nissan still may have many of the 40 KWH cars in stock, and those cars are not really selling. Why would someone buy a $35K 40 KWH Leaf if they can get a 60 KWH one for a little more? Also, I do not think that the E+ is "sold out" -- with the $45K price tag of the SL+ (which appears to be the only car available at dealers).

It appears to me like Nissan is trying to make their low production of E+s sound like a runaway "best seller", so as to make people buy into the seriously high sticker price... That way, when they start making more E+s next year people will have accepted the higher price and feel they are getting a bargain if they feel the can get their hands on a rare animal..

I say... Keep your old reliable Leaf, and run it into the ground. Nissan can keep their $45 Leafs.
 
Sorry if I wasn’t clear. Both plus and non plus models are selling out in the Midwest.

What I can’t see/tell is that because capacity is filling supply lines for the 10-15 new markets that into which the Leaf has been expanded while a tail uptick in Leaf demand caught the US market understocked or is the car less profitable than other models and hence having its capacity squeezed a bit.
 
Ok, here is the answer. All of the Leaf inventory is going to Ireland. I could see how between climate and size how the leaf would be ideal.

https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/109854/increased-demand-for-electric-and-hybrid-vehicles
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
Ok, here is the answer. All of the Leaf inventory is going to Ireland. I could see how between climate and size how the leaf would be ideal.

https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/109854/increased-demand-for-electric-and-hybrid-vehicles

Nissan is missing the boat...or maybe it’s intentional. Our local dealership has at least one dedicated Leaf guy. He stays busy enough with some used sales and a trickling supply of standard range leafs but is frustrated with the amount of lost sales on epluses. Some like us plunk down a deposit and are willing to wait. Others just pay the extra bucks and get a Tesla in 6 weeks instead of 6 months...hatchback be damned.
 
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