2012 Sep Plugin Sales Discussion : Volt 2,851; Leaf 984

September 2012

Volt : 2,851
Leaf : 984
PIP : 1,652
Model S : 200 ?
Fisker Karma - 150 ?
FFE : 59
Mitsu I : 36
Honda Fit EV : 16

My only guess is that it will be a low number.

Actually, with the unusually generous lease deals being offered, it may not be that bad.

A couple of dealers, down here, who had not sold more than one or two LEAFs the entire year cleared out nearly their entire inventory once they announced the 24-month lease with the very low money factor.

I think that 24 month lease will give sales a bounce up. I hope so, I want this car to succeed even if I am leasing only.

Ian B

MrIanB said:

I think that 24 month lease will give sales a bounce up. I hope so, I want this car to succeed even if I am leasing only.

Ian B

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I expect the Aug bounce in Volt sales will subside now that the GM $5K EV sales bonus is over.

984 LEAFs in Sept, largely due to the generous lease offers.

One of the Sept sold Leafs is mine.

I come to like it more than I expected.

I purchased instead of Leasing.

2,851 - Sept 2012 is another new sales month for the Volt. [2,831 - Aug 2012]

Investors: Sales & Production page: http://www.gm.com/content/gmcom/home/company/investors/sales-production.content_pages_news_us_en_2012_sep_gmsales.~content~gmcom~home~company~investors~sales-production.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PDF http://media.gm.com/content/dam/Media/gmcom/investor/2012/GM_US_Deliveries_August_2012.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Via TechTom at gm-volt.com

With as generous as the Leaf (and Volt) offers were, it is not a good sign if that is still the best they could do... But it does show that the vehicles ARE price sensitive and manufactures are going to have to continue considering that if they want to sell any real quantities in the future..

Weatherman said:

984 LEAFs in Sept, largely due to the generous lease offers.

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Maybe leasing new vehicles will be the new paradigm? Then when those vehicles enter the used market, people can buy them? With electric vehicles having a much higher initial price, this may be the best way to move them.

I suspect many also choose to lease as it minimizes their personal risk of the technology changing rapidly or not working as well as planned.
I see these numbers as a success, simply because for every one sold/leased, 2-10 people will get to see and experience the benefits of electric driving!

Happy to see our Leafs numbers go up from last month.

Lets hope we can continue to increase our numbers for the rest of the year.

Ian B

adric22 said:

Maybe leasing new vehicles will be the new paradigm? Then when those vehicles enter the used market, people can buy them? With electric vehicles having a much higher initial price, this may be the best way to move them.

Click to expand...

Since the introduction, Chevy has used discounted lease deals to move Volts, to avoid admitting the large discounts below list, that were needed to meet even the reduced sales targets.

Nissan has begun to do the same thing recently. Hard to say how much this is due to Nissan's predicament of only having 2012 "model year-end closeouts" to sell, after most all the other 2013 cars, EV, PHEV and ICE, are becoming available, or if the same (or even better) low-cost deals will be available for LEAFs once the improved (exactly what changes, we don't know yet) 2013 LEAFs are available.

BTW, I saw my first VOLT "in the wild" (almost) last Saturday, at a Redding CA energy info event.

It was a 2013, parked next to another LEAF owner's 2011.

If anyone is interested, here are some of the other plug-in sales for the month:

http://insideevs.com/september-2012-plug-in-electric-vehicle-sales-report-card/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Honda Fit EV - 16
Mitsu i-Miev - 36
Fisker - 150 (ish)
Tesla Model S - about 100

List is not quite fully populated as Toyota Prius Plug-In numbers don't get broken down until the conference call later today, and Ford breaks down the Focus numbers tomorrow. (will populate/add those figures as soon as the OEMs publish them)

Zythryn said:

I suspect many also choose to lease as it minimizes their personal risk of the technology changing rapidly or not working as well as planned.
I see these numbers as a success, simply because for every one sold/leased, 2-10 people will get to see and experience the benefits of electric driving!

Click to expand...

The tipping point comes when people start to think they are missing out. We're not there yet. Hardly anyone we know has run out and bought an EV because they saw we have one, but we keep getting questions about it... you can tell some people are thinking, and watching the situation.

I was, actually, a bad ambassador for the LEAF.

People saw that I had two LEAFs in less than seven months and asked why. They haven't asked anything else about it, since.

Weatherman said:

I was, actually, a bad ambassador for the LEAF.

People saw that I had two LEAFs in less than seven months and asked why. They haven't asked anything else about it, since.

Click to expand...

I am a strong EV advocate, but definitely cannot recommend a LEAF or any Nissan product. Let's see how they handle the battery degradation issues and how they market the 2013 LEAF.. but so far, as a LEAF owner, I make a point to show the differences between the Volt/Tesla and LEAF.

Weatherman said:

I was, actually, a bad ambassador for the LEAF.

People saw that I had two LEAFs in less than seven months and asked why. They haven't asked anything else about it, since.

Click to expand...

We are in the same boat. Bought 2011 SL in Jan 2012 and bought a second 2011 SL in Feb 2012. Both are working flawlessly with no battery degradation or any other issues. Had some questions during initial weeks but none for the last 7 months. Was charging at a Walgreens and a lady on a Explorer parked next to me and started asking questions. Another time, was getting the Sunday paper at the gas station(whatever that is) and someone stopped me on the way out and asked about the Leaf.

Ian B

Statik said:

If anyone is interested, here are some of the other plug-in sales for the month:

http://insideevs.com/september-2012-plug-in-electric-vehicle-sales-report-card/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Honda Fit EV - 16
Mitsu i-Miev - 36
Fisker - 150 (ish)
Tesla Model S - about 100

List is not quite fully populated as Toyota Prius Plug-In numbers don't get broken down until the conference call later today, and Ford breaks down the Focus numbers tomorrow. (will populate/add those figures as soon as the OEMs publish them)

Click to expand...

Update: Toyota Prius PHEV numbers in...1,652 (best result since the Prius' first full month on the market last April- 1,654)

Wow, 150ish Karmas. I guess our economy is not that bad??

Ian B