April 2012 sales

Better data here for April sales (click on first chart):

Disregard: link goes to march instead

 

The figure most interesting to me is Leaf. WTH is happening to it? Its sales SUCK. It really sold only 370 last month?!

Volt sales are trending up. Leaf very clearly trending down.

EDIT: Yeah it's real. Well, there is just no way in the world Nissan is happy with where Leaf sales are going.

 

The small dip for the prius family was expected and still represent great numbers.

The leaf is really disappointing. If its only price then NA will help them drop cost, and then drop the price. I don't think it is though. Many wanting an electric may want something nicer with more range like the S that will be selling for about $57K (-rebate) for the 40Kwh base model. They also may have range anxiety and a phev is a easier choice - like the prius phv, volt, and upcoming ford energis. I do hope they get on track. I always thought their numbers were too optimistic, but these last 3 months have been very bad.

 

I think some say Leaf can work great in a 2 car family. I think Leaf is more for a 2 car individual who has another gas car around just in case. Why?

Leaf can work for '95%' of individuals trips '95% of the time (Ed Begley, WKTEC). What about the other 5%? Who's willing to rent a car in case? I have days where I just need to hit the road and go. Shopping far wide will do that to ya.

Most people don't want to be told the party is over because the range is gone, wait til tomorrow to drive again.

I don't think there are reliability problems with Leaf. I think price, EV range, recharge time, maybe supply, something is biting its butt.

 

Not surprised. I think the party is only getting started. I think people are realizing .. 'oh, 12 miles EV .. I can live with that. 50 MPG after, that'll work. Best hybrid on the planet ... sold'.

 

So it is outselling Volt already . I am actually surprised that Prius PHEV is outselling Volt so soon. Kind of doesnt make sense with the pricing.

p.s. March is generally one of the best sales months of the year, from May until September, sales should be lesser compared to the rest of the year (they still may be up based on market conditions, but October-April are best sales months). So there will be drop in total hybrid sales for next few months, but % wise they should still do well.

 

Is there a possible explanation in the March versus April sales difference? Example: change in incentives, price change.

The majority of those Leafs must be here in Southern California, because I continue to see new Leafs on the roads here. I used to see a Leaf once or twice a month. Over the past two weeks, I seem to see two or three each day.

Looking at the graph though, I do see your point.

 

Averaging 97 MPG with my current tank (now at 529 miles), I'm thinking the suggestion to consider PHV is going to be an easy one.

 

i was recently notified that leaf would be available in mass. sorry, too little, too late.

 

Where I live the Leaf would make zero sense... it's about a 25 mile one way trip just to get to Clarion, the nearest town with anything in it. I have however been noticing a lot more Prii around lately and the Chevy dealer in town always seems to have a different Volt on the lot every week, so they must be selling some too, even if I've yet to see one on the road.

 

The solution to this may be closer at hand than you realize. I live in new jersey in an inner suburb of New York City. A new Zipcar location has opened just a mile from my house. If I had a Leaf, I could easily get a Zipcar whenever I needed a car with a longer range.

This brings up another pet idea of mine - I wish car share companies like Zipcar would offer minivans for suburban customers. The idea is that most of the time you don't need a big vehicle but for those few times when you do, it would be great to leave your small car at the Zipcar lot and drive off in a minivan or a pickup truck.

I am aware that Home Depot does offer pickup trucks in this manner but the rates from Zipcar are much lower and locations are more convenient.

 

HOV stickers are probably driving sales in California, and it was available before the Volt with improved emissions. It's a big market that isn't an American make stronghold.

 

April 2012 Hybrid & Plug-in Electric Car Sales Numbers!

April 2012 Dashboard | Hybrid Cars

 

Thanks for mentioning Zipcar as a possible fill-in for occasional use.

We took a Leaf for a test drive and loved it. Mrs. M8s wanted to buy one on the spot. It would definitely work for 95% of our daily driving.

But we were concerned by the occasional need for a longer range vehicle. A Zipcar facility would fill the bill. We had a long talk about that yesterday. If only they had them in AZ and CO.

 

I think the most likely reasons were:

1. Drop in gas prices and gas price expectations (in March it looked like they were going up and never stopping--in April they stalled out and dropped quite a bit)
2. Lack of available inventory. March was the single-biggest month EVER in Prius sales. A lot of the dealerships had pretty much sold out by April, and Japan is still not fully-recovered from the quake, meaning limited supplies.

 

Poor leaf.