Why would anyone buy a nissan leaf right now???

[webeleafowners]

Our 2016 SV has been bullet proof and we had a 2020 SL plus on order to replace my wife’s daily driver 2015 Smart ED convertible. But after 6 months of waiting our sales guy contacted us and let us know it would be another 3 to 6 months. She is now nervous with the whole Nissan affair and has decided to order a model 3 Tesla as soon as we are back in Canada next month. There are very few new Leafs for sale in BC this year. Kinda wondering if all the dealerships are making some kind of collective decision. Last year our dealership sold lots of them every month.

All speculation on my part. I’ll continue to drive the Leaf until we eventually go down to one vehicle. I would still recommend the leaf to anybody. It has been a very good ownership experience.

I still keeping wondering what the heck is going on w/Nissan Canada when it comes to Leaf sales and supply. It seems like complete idiocy. They could've sold you a car months ago and booked revenue instead of evading and beating around the bush. Now it seems like they lost a sale to a company who is much more eager to sell.

Are those dealers incompetent or they just don't want to sell a Leaf or is something else going on?

I bet if I walked into most SF Bay Area Leaf dealers, I could walk away with a 62 kWh Leaf Plus that day. I might not get a great price but I'd have a car.

Yah I don’t know and anything I add would be pure speculation. I know our sales guy is (was) a knowledgeable EV enthusiast and knows his stuff. This dealership sold us our first leaf which we still have. I have to pop into to pick up some wiper blades in April. I’ll ask him then. Honestly we have had a great dealership experience with these guys and our brand loyalty is partially due to them. I’m hoping our Tesla experience will be as good. So far it has and our sales Rep in Vancouver has been really good. We are also happy that they now have a permanent ranger shop about 50 km from our house. Meh. Change is good. .

 

[Dooglas]

Well, for what its worth, I have driven a Leaf for over 6 years now (2 actually, a '13 SV and then a '16 S30). In all that time, no mechanical or electrical problems of any kind. The only maintenance has been wiper blades and a cabin air filter. Eventually I'll need new tires and a brake job, but not yet. Also, still at 12 bars. If this isn't reliability - I don't know what is.

 

[webeleafowners]

Well, for what its worth, I have driven a Leaf for over 6 years now (2 actually, a '13 SV and then a '16 S30). In all that time, no mechanical or electrical problems of any kind. The only maintenance has been wiper blades and a cabin air filter. Eventually I'll need new tires and a brake job, but not yet. Also, still at 12 bars. If this isn't reliability - I don't know what is.

Yah I can relate. Our leaf has been bullet proof. Our hope Angela’s Tesla will be as good. BIG shoes to fill.

 

[cwerdna]

Google trade magazine articles of the last 90 days and see if you think these dealerships may be around come 2022. Cutting another 20,000 jobs to stay in business may impact some Nissan people that you may know.

I'm well aware of Nissan's woes right now (and Ghosn's prediction) but I'm not clear how many dealers Nissan corporate runs and own in Canada, if any given what https://www.nissanusa.com/about/corporate-information.html says

Nissan Canada

In Canada, Nissan Canada Inc. markets and distributes Nissan and Infiniti vehicles to Canadian dealerships. With offices in Vancouver (BC), Mississauga (ON), and Kirkland (QC), NCI directly employs 250 full-time staff. There are 187 independent Nissan dealerships, 38 Infiniti retailers and 45 Nissan Commercial Vehicle dealers across Canada.

I found https://canada.autonews.com/article/20180608/CANADA/180609779/ford-canada-oks-public-ownership-of-dealerships that doesn't mention Nissan.

Who knows if webeleafowners's bizarre (to an American) experiences are a result of incompetence from a sales and distribution POV, manufacturing, or something else, possibly intentional?

 

[gncndad]

Well, for what its worth, I have driven a Leaf for over 6 years now (2 actually, a '13 SV and then a '16 S30). In all that time, no mechanical or electrical problems of any kind. The only maintenance has been wiper blades and a cabin air filter. Eventually I'll need new tires and a brake job, but not yet. Also, still at 12 bars. If this isn't reliability - I don't know what is.

Ditto here with my 2015 LeafS, now at 36k miles, except at 11 bars, 4.1 m/KwH...living in DFW TX heat.

 

[BrockWI]

Mechanically ours is pretty good, just front tie rods & alignment with our the 2013 Leaf, with 103k miles. Tires, lots of tires. Our longest lasting set has been the Michelin Defenders that went 33k, stock eco's went 12k, eco plus went 14k, all the tires rotated regularly and worn evenly, it just easts tires for lunch. I am not saying it is my wife's driving style, but...

 

[GaleHawkins]

https://www.pocket-lint.com/cars/news/nissan/150690-nissan-e4orce-dual-motor-tech-ev

Stories like this may not help right now but does show forward thinking and hope for a way forward.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Well, with iPace, and now eTron both suspended (and Mercedes reducing capacity), I wonder if it will give any lift to Leaf in markets with larger EV incentives. I know neither is a direct competitor, but it does seem we are hitting some scarcity.

https://electrek.co/2020/02/21/audi-suspends-e-tron-electric-suv-production-supply-problems-batteries/

Maybe Nissan should sell some of their battery capacity to these players.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Maybe Nissan should sell some of their battery capacity to these players.

That would be like responding to a shortage of Rolex watches by putting in an order for fake Rolexes from a counterfeiter.

 

[cwerdna]

Well, with iPace, and now eTron both suspended (and Mercedes reducing capacity), I wonder if it will give any lift to Leaf in markets with larger EV incentives. I know neither is a direct competitor, but it does seem we are hitting some scarcity.

https://electrek.co/2020/02/21/audi-suspends-e-tron-electric-suv-production-supply-problems-batteries/

Maybe Nissan should sell some of their battery capacity to these players.

That doesn't really help if they use different size and/or format batteries. If different, they'd need to set up separate assembly lines w/its own equipment then do some pilot manufacturing and testing while ramping up production. Off the top of my head, I don't know what format the others are using.

This assumes all the other logistics are solved of incoming materials and parts + shipping out finished products.

 

[GaleHawkins]

Leaf tops charts in reliability.

https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2020/02/first-time-out-genesis-tops-power-dependability-study-as-nissan-leaf-scores-a-coup/

While we know the Leaf as a reliable EV I do not see why volumes are dropping when its cousin from France is growing in market share?

https://electrek.co/2020/02/20/renault-zoe-electric-car-sales/
Renault Zoe electric car sales surge, becoming one of the brand’s best-selling cars

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Leaf sales in Spain are still growing YoY:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/noticiaslogisticaytransporte.com/empresas/24/02/2020/nissan-entrega-su-vehiculo-electrico-numero-7-000-en-espana/147927.html/amp

 

[GaleHawkins]

Leaf sales in Spain are still growing YoY:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/noticiaslogisticaytransporte.com/empresas/24/02/2020/nissan-entrega-su-vehiculo-electrico-numero-7-000-en-espana/147927.html/amp

I can see how Nissan having a factory there being helpful to sales in Spain but with it's closure and pulling out of the EC in general should change the sales numbers greatly.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Leaf sales in Spain are still growing YoY:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/noticiaslogisticaytransporte.com/empresas/24/02/2020/nissan-entrega-su-vehiculo-electrico-numero-7-000-en-espana/147927.html/amp

I can see how Nissan having a factory there being helpful to sales in Spain but with it's closure and pulling out of the EC in general should change the sales numbers greatly.

Nissan builds LEAFs in Spain?

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

I believe they build the eNV-200 in Spain, not the Leaf.

I keep hoping they will bring the Mini-van version to the US with the 62KW battery. Not a spacious or overly beautiful 7 seater, but functionally very good.

Its green field for an electric mini-van in the US.

 

[GaleHawkins]

Leaf sales in Spain are still growing YoY:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/noticiaslogisticaytransporte.com/empresas/24/02/2020/nissan-entrega-su-vehiculo-electrico-numero-7-000-en-espana/147927.html/amp

I can see how Nissan having a factory there being helpful to sales in Spain but with it's closure and pulling out of the EC in general should change the sales numbers greatly.

Nissan builds LEAFs in Spain?

The article is dated but addresses your question.

https://www.greencarreports.com/n...-largest-electric-taxi-fleet-of-nissan-leafs

"In addition to the Leaf, Nissan sells a taxi version of the e-NV200 electric van. That model is actually built in Spain, at Nissan's Barcelona plant."

The UK Leaf factory seems to be headed for the chopping block but the hatchet has not been officially come down.

The EC and Japan did their own Free Trade agreement after the UK vote to break away from the EC so now they can take the jobs back home and just ship to the EC if they find it worth the effort. Toyota as already announced they can not keep selling in western Europe due to fines for gas and diesel vehicles that are now in force as of 2020.

Of course the Leaf does not have a gas or diesel engine but in the EC are seen as out of date feature and range wise so sales are down in Europe.

All we can do is watch what happens at the TN Nissan factory. Basically Nissan is going to protect their home land and do not want to write off the USA market like they are doing in western Europe. We should know something factual in the next 2-3 years. I am hopefully unless they outright kill the Ariya model from coming to the market place in the USA due to the lack of cash to do so. I think Nissan still has cash they can burn that may last 2 more years with no sales rebound.

 

[LeftieBiker]

The Ariya will be built, and likely sold in the US.

 

[GaleHawkins]

The Ariya will be build, and likely sold in the US.

Being a life long Nissan customer I hope you are right but I don't see news of the last 180 and especially the last 90 days to be very supportive of your different opinion.

I'm not seeing the will to spend a few more billions to get to their EV lineup ready to compete in the $45K price point.

As you can read right here on this forum even authorized Leaf dealerships are not stocking and pushing Gen2 out of the door.

Why do you think Nissan Leaf dealerships no longer seem excited about stocking Leafs?

 

[LeftieBiker]

Let me put it this way: the Ariya is in the 'refinement by focus group' stage. I wouldn't put a deposit on one now (you can't), but I'd expect them on the lots in no more than 18 months, assuming that Nissan stays afloat. As for the Leaf, that's a different situation: they only sell well when heavily discounted, in part because of their less than stellar battery reputations, and also because of Rapidgate, which soured their appeal as road trip cars. Dealerships don't like to sell lots of Loss Leaders.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

I contend Leaf sales would be double if they lowered the prices by 3-4K and didn’t discount at point of sale. Revenue per car to Nissan would be the same.