Nissan announces 67 Leaf sales in February

I agree with muus anger. I've just being reply to blogs (ie...fighting over the internet which is stupid) about a story that "Leaf and Volt sales are lackluster".

Are you kidding me. I can't even buy one yet. They cranking them out as fast as they can. The tone of the article was how there was a drop in sales from Jan to Feb. Its on "theatlantic.com" which I think is a right leaning site so the slant is that the Green movement is garbage.

I hate that everyone has a "news blog" and just spits out the news with their own slant.

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Autoblog Green blogged about it the same way and I would hardly call them "right leaning." It seems many here are hypersensitive about anything even remotely negative about the Leaf.

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/03/01/gm-sells-281-chevy-volts-february-nissan-67-leafs/

"Ouch. The big questions, of course, revolve around one word: "Why?" Is ramping up production and deliveries still a problem? Is demand weak? Are unscrupulous dealers to blame? When will sales start to climb? And what are these numbers doing to plug-in vehicle work at other automakers? We don't know all the answers, but for more on February auto sales, click here."

Looking at the Vin numbers on the spreadsheets, there will be 350 or more Leaf deliveries in March. I will be surprised if there are not more during March and early April. The Government subsidy has ended in Japan and one would believe that Nissan is now focused on U S deliveries. Leon from Mossy Nissan has indicated on this Forum that he will delivering about 200 Leafs in the April/ May time frame. Leon has about 10% of total Leaf sales. I have found Leon`s information in the past to be accurate and very helpful. That should indicate that there will be at least 2,000 deliveries overall during that time period.

If Leon`s information was not available, I also would be very frustrated!!

2000, wow.

What I find frustrating is the complete lack of response from Nissan NA or Nissan Corporate. It should be simple enough to issue a press release stating the number of deliveries in Japan, which is where the vast majority of LEAFs went in January and February. I find myself having to defend Nissan's honor by posting links to this article:
http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-c...-8217s-demise-have-been-ahem-exaggerated/3396

Sproqitman, You are absolutely correct. Nissan introduced transparency when they adopted the dashboard approach to ordering. I believe that Nissan by adopting the dashboard process revolutionized the car buying process and put themselves in a terrific position to build brand Loyalty through innovation. However, once they opened the door to transparency you have to follow through and continue to do a good job of communicating. This they have not done and they are loosing the advantage they created. The sad thing is that they have a GREAT story to tell and should be taking advantage of it by informing us better and thereby enlisting us to carry forward the correct messages.

Some dealers such as Leon at Mossy Nissan do a great job of communicating and have harnessed communicating with customers to their and our advantage. This should be the new model of what car selling should be.

Thank you for the link to Mathew's article, it was quite refreshing. Although it didn't mention sales in Japan either.

It seems many here are hypersensitive about anything even remotely negative about the Leaf.

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I don't care about negative press, what I don't appreciate is lies and half-truths. I especially don't like misleading articles about the Leaf on a Leaf blog.

Too bad Nissan doesn't feel it necessary to stand up for themselves. It's like they are the wimpy kid that won't stand up to all the bullies.

sproqitman said:

I find myself having to defend Nissan's honor by posting links to this article:

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I suggest posting the link to the sales sticky we have here.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2883

Train said:

Autoblog Green blogged about it the same way and I would hardly call them "right leaning." It seems many here are hypersensitive about anything even remotely negative about the Leaf.

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Hah - I wouldn't even call ABG's content "reporting". They simply take press releases and add some fluff. Most of the time they don't do any real reporting on the content.

Train said:

"Ouch. The big questions, of course, revolve around one word: "Why?"

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OMG - ABG can't even dig up the last Leaf "article" they printed where they reported that most deliveries were going to Japan.

The best thing about ABG is their frequent updates - their editors flat out suck. Quantity over quality is the theme there.

Hah - I wouldn't even call ABG's content "reporting". They simply take press releases and add some fluff. Most of the time they don't do any real reporting on the content.

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I know, that's why I called it blogging. They just forward other news links, videos and write their own introduction.

But my point remains the same.

Heck, I don't even know they edit or proofread anything. Perhaps they just type and throw it up on the site.

I don't care about negative press

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I think it's obvious you do. Some of the articles mentioned aren't telling just all "lies" and "half-truths."

Look...newspapers, various press sources report on a lot of things. Most are not dedicated technology or automobile reporters so they are going to put things in general terms, make omissions, get things edited, and at times get some things wrong. But I don't think that constitutes "lies" which would mean they are intentionally not telling the truth. Bloggers, on the other hand, are opinion pieces, typically. So you're going to hear their personal views.

My SWAG why Nissan is avoiding pointing out that the lion's share of current LEAF deliveries are to Japanese customers is that they do not want to stir up American jingoism.

One detail that surprises me a little is that I do not see any VIN over 600 in the order/sale SS posted in this forum. What production run is the February trickle coming from ?

Csriram reported Vin # 689 with a March 31 delivery date. My guess is that it was manufactured around the middle of February. I am wondering if Leafs manufactured during the last two weeks of February are on a ship headed to the U S.

Yet reports say that 4k LEAF have been produced as of mid February. It's a discrepancy I cannot understand.

Most of the "4,000" must have been produced for sale in Japan. Sooner or later Leaf sales and production numbers for Japan will be updated. Then we will know. Nissan also claimed they would produce 10,000 Leafs by the end of March. That would require them to build 5,000 or more in March. Do you think that is possible? :roll:

Until the Government subsidy in Japan returns, there might be a substantial surplus of recently-produced right-hand drive LEAFs parked somewhere over there.

Apparently the (roughly) $12,000 subsidy in Japan has returned. Now, world-total LEAF sales should really jump!

Apparently its already back if this is true: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2373&start=100

According to JADA (the Japanese version of NADA), Nissan sold 2,593 LEAFs in Japan in February:
http://www.jada.or.jp/contents/data/ranking/index.php

So that explains where most of the 4,000 went.

sproqitman said:

According to JADA (the Japanese version of NADA), Nissan sold 2,593 LEAFs in Japan in February:
http://www.jada.or.jp/contents/data/ranking/index.php

So that explains where most of the 4,000 went.

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Nice. Thanks. BTW, post all sales data to the sticky thread on Leaf sales.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2883

sproqitman said:

According to JADA (the Japanese version of NADA), Nissan sold 2,593 LEAFs in Japan in February:

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I hate to show my ignorance, but are VINs a US-only thing, or do they have a different format in other countries? I ask because there are many reports on this board of VINS in the 600-1000 range for delivery in March and April. How does that make sense if 2600 cars were already sold in Japan?

Ray

^^ IF it is any consolation, I wondered exactly the same thing.