Why are sales numbers so low for the Volt and Leaf?
The plug-in sales leader so far
Were these plug-ins rushed to market?
So far GM has sold 928 Chevy Volts while Nissan has sold 173 Leafs. Even more worrisome, sales for these plug-in vehicles declined in February compared to January according to AutoBlogGreen. Why?
In recent weeks and months, both companies have claimed they are simply being cautious with their initial rollouts. Obviously, that’s a reasonable excuse, but is it good enough?
To be sure, GM drew a line in the sand years ago that essentially forced them to begin selling the Chevy Volt in late 2010. Missing this mark might have shocked investors and fans.
Consequently, one might argue that Nissan needed to match GM, since both were trying to overcome Toyota’s green halo advantage thanks to the Prius. Thus, offering the first plug-in vehicles was an important benchmark for both GM and Nissan.
Unfortunately, neither company seems as if they were fully prepared to be the first major automakers to offer plug-in vehicles.
Perhaps in a couple of months, production outputs and sales will make these early numbers irrelevant. I’d bet there’s a good chance that happens. Nevertheless, it seems clear that neither company had really perfected their mass production methodologies for these vehicles, and that leaves open the possibility for technical glitches over time.
We’ve seen such glitches in the Toyota Prius and other hybrid cars, but they’ve been manageable problems. And, if such glitches occur in the Chevy Volt or the Nissan Leaf, they’ll probably also be manageable. However, the pressure on GM and Nissan is far greater than what was on Toyota when the Prius was launched more than 10 years ago.
Again, hopefully these issues are non-issues in a few months, but these early output numbers – from both automakers - are beginning to become slightly worrisome.
KC- That has been an issue with other hybrid cars as well. Unfortunately, those large battery packs suck up lots of room. I agree its a pain in the ass and could pose huge problems if you get stuck between LA and Las Vegas, for instance on hot summer day. Certainly, OnStar does help, but I wouldnt’ feel comfortable without a spare tire on long trips, especially in areas where towns are few and far between.
We bought a new Volt off a local car dealership lot here in Texas. It has all the gadgets one could ever want on a vehicle but we really did not need leather seats, heated seats, extra cost for tri white color option and on I could go. There was no waiting list for this car and they had another Volt on the car lot too but it had been damaged in transit so it wasn’t for sale. I will admit the price is High and we will be paying a lot of $$$ for years…that being said we love the car, how it drives, the gas mileage,the backup camera on the navigation system, trim work etc. However, we are not pleased there is no spare tire or jack!! The owners manual refers you the the compressor with sealant in the trunk but I have had tires ruined that a compressor and tire sealant couldn’t repair to enable you to drive to a tire store. I can foresee problems in the future when a tire is ruined..I pray the On star service included with the car will work so we can be rescued quickly when our tire is ruined ( which is bound to happen). Personally, I believe GM blew it leaving a jack and spare count tire out to make the car more Fuel efficient. I was told they did this also on the Camaros and Ford Mustangs also have no jack or spare tire either. Does no one else see a problem with this picture?
You can burn a lot of gas for $20,000. For most people the economics of the cars do not work. Is burning coal to make the electricity any better than converting the car to LPG?
I still believe that plug-ins are worthy of development, but I’m with you a bit Bryan. Cost does appear that it is going to be a significant issue for some time.
Nevertheless, I do think it’s important for the US to push R&D into battery research, but we should be careful not to blow our wad on immature technologies in need of major breakthroughs.
However, I think the real point – which I think you are hitting upon – is that the US needs a more realistic US energy policy that is aggressive today, while being forward thinking as we progress into the future.
That’s an interesting point, Indigo. In some ways the tax credits might be more needed after the early adopters buy their plug-ins.
The sales figures would be even lower if the buyers weren’t getting a corporate welfare check worth $7,500 for each car. It cracks me up how the Feds are robbing the working class so that people with six-digit incomes can get electric cars.
I’m glad America is waking up. An electric car being green….what a joke. First of all most people have a carbon footptint and the dollars they make are usually also based on carbon. Few have jobs where their company is soo green that the dollars they ern are more green as we are an oil based society. So the more a so called “green car” costs the larger it’s footprint based just on “carbon based” dollars it costs just to purchase it.
Now if that isn’t enough here where I live in Illinois most of our power comes from coal burning plants……ummmm so if you plug in anything electric it still has a carbon footprint.
Electric cars are a joke…the cost is a factor. The technology is just not there. If we want “change” maybe we should find a better energy source to power our cars. A battery is far from green and either is electric as our electrical is mostly based on nuclear, coal, and hydro…..and only suplemented by solar and wind……which also have huge negatives as well and are not exactly green.
We need hydrogen and propane/natural gas technology. Perhaps the propane/natural gas option is the best step for today as it is readily avaialble and cost effective so it would be easy for people to adopt.
I’m sure there are thousands of pre-orders, minimally. 10’s of thousands wouldn’t surprise me. With the tax credits available and the number of early adopters out there I don’t see GM, nor Nissan, having any problem selling these vehicles until the credits are expired.
For now, I’m not too concerned that deliveries are taking so long. That was kind of the plan for the old GM. The new CEO, however, has acted as if suddenly GM could instantly ramp up production, and that’s beginning to appear much harder then Ackerson seems to have believed.
However, if this is still the case 6 months from now, then some serious questions are in order.
I agree production and availability are a major contributor. The Volt is only available in 5 states right now.
In AZ where the Volt won’t be available until Dec. At the Phoenix dealer where I ordered mine, I was 20th on the list for that dealership. How many more pre-orders are out there at other dealerships?
Well, I think for now it’s a production issue, although I do believe that long term your points are correct, especially once we’ve worked through early adopters.
In terms of perception though, you are quite right, and the perception gap is even worse for plug-ins compared to hybrids.
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That reporter sure had an axe to grind, huh? If a business thinks a certain paint color or parking lot configuration can drive business, they have every right. What a tool.
1) They are too expensive
2) People worry about the range
3) People don’t trust the new technology
4) Did I mention they are too expensive? For this price they want size, luxury, and speed.
There is also a general ignorance about hybrids, let alone electric vehicles. I was recently interviewed by a guy about special parking places reserved for hybrids here in Pittsburgh. He thought I had to plug my Prius in. Maybe he’s not the sharpest reporter in the drawer, so to speak, but we make forget how knowledgeable we are about the vehicles compared to public perception.
BTW, here’s the article and my retort:
http://www.toolsofthetrade.net/industry-news.asp?sectionID=1516&articleID=1514354