Nissan Admits Delays

[AndyH]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...'s+electric+leaf+car+in+us&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

“We knew that the production rollout would be slow at first and then would ramp up [but] it’s where we expected it to be,” said David Reuter, a spokesman for Nissan in the US. “Where we disconnected was in communicating this to the customer.”

Nissan expects the congestion to ease by April.

 

[johnr]

Doesn't sound to me like an admission of delay. It does however, sound like an admission that they misled their customers due to lack of communication.

 

[MikeyD]

I think the Japan incentives possibly expiring really screwed them up. THey thought the US would be their first stop, but it turned out Japan had to be.

Hopefully, the lack of congestion by April means Reservations will open up soon after.

 

[AndyH]

Are we not reading the article?

However, it acknowledged bottlenecks in its quality assurance process and distribution delays from the Leaf’s unorthodox internet-based ordering system, which bypasses US dealers.

 

[garygid]

Being Mislead:

If I tell you that I am "expecting a LEAF soon", do you think "cool, another sale in February"?

If you do, have I mislead you, or have you assumed something that was not there?

 

[smkettner]

Are we not reading the article?

However, it acknowledged bottlenecks in its quality assurance process and distribution delays from the Leaf’s unorthodox internet-based ordering system, which bypasses US dealers.

My order went through a dealer :?

 

[sproqitman]

I may get flogged for this, since I already have my car, but I went back and reviewed the emails Nissan sent during the ordering process -- they met every date. This is conjecture, but I think what happened is Nissan was not expecting thousands of reservations on the first day. It's taken months to clear out the logjam created by the initial rush. If you were lucky enough to get in ahead of the jam, things went pretty much according to schedule (dashboard eccentricities aside). If not, it was complete chaos.

4/17/10 "The time is coming. Your priority reservation instructions are now scheduled to be sent to you by email on 4/20/10."
4/20/10 "Your special time has finally come."
4/26/10 "...thank you for reserving your place in automotive history...We will be in touch by June 30 with more details..."
5/17/10 "...you live in an area that will be one of the first to start the order process, which begins in August and continues for the next few months."
6/30/10 "...We are still finalizing some details of the order process, and we will be in touch later this summer with additional information on your order timing."
7/27/10 "...We just wanted to let you know you'll be able to order your new Nissan LEAF in August 2010."
8/31/10 "...We have some exciting news. You can now request a quote from your local Nissan Dealer and place an order for your Nissan LEAF."
8/31/10 "Congratulations, your order for a Nissan LEAF has now been confirmed."
11/22/10 "...Your vehicle is scheduled to arrive at your Nissan Dealer in the month of January 2011."
1/12/11 "...Your Nissan LEAF is scheduled to arrive at your dealer within the next 7 days."

 

[garygid]

Nice example of how a "smooth" process went,
like they should have gone (had there been no bugs?).

 

[Electric4Me]

I may get flogged for this, since I already have my car, but I went back and reviewed the emails Nissan sent during the ordering process -- they met every date. This is conjecture, but I think what happened is Nissan was not expecting thousands of reservations on the first day. It's taken months to clear out the logjam created by the initial rush. If you were lucky enough to get in ahead of the jam, things went pretty much according to schedule (dashboard eccentricities aside). If not, it was complete chaos.

I'm not going to flog you, but will point out that we all expected it to go just as you detailed it based on the communication from Nissan. For the first (very) few people it worked, but the rest of us have been left hanging. Yes, their most recent communication says to expect the car in 4-7 months (my dash shows the 8th month...), but I certainly assumed that since I ordered on day 2 that I would receive the car towards the front of the window. My dealer also believed this, telling me that Nissan processed 200 orders a day in the beginning and that he hoped they would arrive in December.

 

[AndyH]

Are we not reading the article?

However, it acknowledged bottlenecks in its quality assurance process and distribution delays from the Leaf’s unorthodox internet-based ordering system, which bypasses US dealers.

My order went through a dealer :?

Yes it did - but you didn't buy the car from dealer stock, and Nissan corporate did the selling, right? Only the very last part of the process brings a dealer into the mix - and that's very different.

 

[Electric4Me]

Yes it did - but you didn't buy the car from dealer stock, and Nissan corporate did the selling, right? Only the very last part of the process brings a dealer into the mix - and that's very different.

Andy,
if we buy this argument at face value, then we'd have to believe that Nissan had enough issues making the ordering process work that they were starting to stockpile Leafs so instead they diverted them all to their domestic customers. This is hard for me to believe... BTW, how did the Japanese customers order the cars??

 

[smkettner]

Yes it did - but you didn't buy the car from dealer stock, and Nissan corporate did the selling, right? Only the very last part of the process brings a dealer into the mix - and that's very different.

No, corporate did no selling. Nissan just offered a product. Price was still negotiated with the dealer in advance.
The only difference is we are waiting for the car to be manufactured and sent over vs the dealer searching the area for what we want.

It is no different than sending a dealer an email to get a price commitment. Because that is what we did.
Fontana (my PD) did the selling as the banner advertisement offered a solid discount to all customers.

The Nissan system has only kept a que for people to order and recieve the car in some sort of sequential order.
And I praise Nissan for using this system to avoid dealer gouging as happens at other manufacturers' dealers.

 

[tbleakne]

Yes it did - but you didn't buy the car from dealer stock, and Nissan corporate did the selling, right? Only the very last part of the process brings a dealer into the mix - and that's very different.

No, corporate did no selling. Nissan just offered a product. Price was still negotiated with the dealer in advance.
>>>>
The Nissan system has only kept a que for people to order and recieve the car in some sort of sequential order.
And I praise Nissan for using this system to avoid dealer gouging as happens at other manufacturers' dealers.

I understand this is already happening with the Volt. I too am very grateful Nissan used this reservation system, flawed though it may be. Being able to choose which dealer gets your car is really empowering.

 

[Bassman]

My dealer in Stockton told me they were expecting the cars in December as I was only the second order for a LEAF from their dealership. Mine is coming in April. So even the dealers were expecting them much sooner.

 

[GeorgeParrott]

The delivery process went smoothly for maybe a dozen buyers who actually got their cars in December and January, but for the majority of those of us who ALSO ordered and confirmed on 31 August....we are just now (maybe) getting our cars, and those who got their orders in a day or two later are still looking at April rather then the originally assured "3-4 months after ordering" and on the dashboard most of us saw "December 2010 for the first two months after ordering and then...the unexplained delays began.

I too commend Nissan for allowing the buyers to control where the cars got sent, and thus that really did avoid the gouging that many Chevy dealers are putting on the Volt (though a number of Chevy dealers are selling the Volt at MSRP and taking option specific orders within their limited allotments at MSRP).

I don't make many friends here with my "constant harping" about the lack of feedback and transparency on WHEN cars would actually arrive, BUT after this experience it will be a LONG time before I put any, repeat ANY, faith in a Nissan corporate statement. For me, Nissan has shown itself to be totally insensitive to my needs and concerns in terms of budgeting and planning for such a major cost item, and once I got my Volt ordered (at MSRP) the tracking and delivery process was incredibly open and transparent.

My LEAF is still posted on my dashboard to be delivered "week of Feb. 18," but that date has bounced around from 18 Feb to 24 Feb then 22 Feb and most recently back to 18 Feb. A crystal ball has more reliable information !

 

[GeekEV]

Mine said the same thing...

 

[defiancecp]

Nissan kept their dealers in the dark about the process, so a huge number of significant things I was told turned out to be untrue. You could argue that this wasn't nissan's fault, but when you keep your dealers in the dark, misinformation is bound to happen; If they didn't realize that, then their incompetence is just as bad as being intentionally misleading.

I'm sure the guys in the 2nd tier states that were told they could order months ago would have issue with the implication that no customer assurances have been broken. Most likely given the situation in Japan it was justified, but nobody from Nissan has ever bothered to even discuss the matter, much less apologize.

Nissan did a lot of things right, but anyone who defends how they've treated and communicated with preordered customers got lucky or isn't paying attention.

 

[LakeLeaf]

Hindsight is 20/20, but it seems that it would have been in Nissan's best interest to anticipate and build in delays in their original projections instead of projecting what appear to be best case scenarios.

If George would have been told that his car would be delivered in April when he initially ordered, I bet he could have accepted that. Then as the worst cases didn't come true, Nissan could have gone back and asked if he (or any of us) would like delivery a month or two or three early. If he planned for an April delivery - he could always then say No - I'll take my car when originally promised. Someone else could have the January production slot - but George would still keep his originally promised slot. (It's not that I know any specifics about our friend George, but do feel some of his frustration).

For some - they have loads of cash under the mattress, so coming up with $35k isn't a big deal. With others - they have no cash and great credit, so coming up with a loan at any time isn't that big of a deal either. For others who are planning on paying with cash but don't have it under the mattress, figuring out the cash flow so the timing works out right can be a little more complicated - especially when you have competing interests for that money, and you don't have a clear idea of when the car will come in. It can be quite frustrating. For instance - if you own a business and are looking at a $35k piece of equipment that will make you more profitable, you'd like to get that in as soon as possible. If your business generates $7k/mth excess - you could buy that equipment now if you knew the car was going to be 5 months later then projected. No need to beat this to death - most of you guys understand business cash flow pressures. Just a note of solidarity for some of the frustrations expressed in other posts.

 

[walterbays]

Nissan did a lot of things right, but anyone who defends how they've treated and communicated with preordered customers got lucky or isn't paying attention.

I'm not lucky - still waiting to RAQ - and I've been paying attention. I sure don't like how I've been treated with lack of information, but I can defend it. Nissan is managing a radical new car introduction where demand probably exceeds supply by at least 10 to 1, without the dealers profiteering at the expense of the customers. All the best information, and guesses, comes from this forum not from Nissan. But I understand why they wouldn't want to release any information competitors could use against them. Eventually Nissan will deliver our cars, which is more than you can say of most of the other would-be EV makers. Finally everyone who gets a 2011 or 2012 model Leaf will lucky. Not until 2013 will Nissan be able to produce as many cars as they can sell.

 

[defiancecp]

In the end, though, it's not what their competitors say that matters, it's what their customers say. As you said, demand outstrips supply 10 to 1. What the press is saying *right now* - things like "nissan only sold 19 leafs in 2010!" - would actually look better to the average consumer if nissan publically stated that they were slowing the launch to give more attention to the first cars off the line, or to take care of Japanese customers who are about to unexpectedly lose their tax incentive, or whatever reason they want to state.

Like I've said before, I believe how their first customers speak about the car and the company is going to carry a whole lot of weight, and some of the press is going to badmouth regardless of whether they have to twist facts to do it; being silent about obvious production delays just gives them leeway to make up whatever they want for reasons (like no demand, as they're implying now)