TriShield

Volt sales are kicking the Leaf's butt


It's early yet but, so far, the Chevrolet Volt is handily outselling the Nissan Leaf.

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, senior writer
February 1, 2011: 4:28 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- In January, General Motors sold 321 Chevrolet Volt cars. Meanwhile, Nissan, its fiercest electric car competitor, has sold just 87 Leaf cars in the U.S.

Both cars went into production at the end of November.

GM had originally planned to sell the Volt in only select areas of the country before 2012, but the automaker announced last week that it would expand sales of the Volt to all 50 states by the end of the year.

"It's a good public relations move," said Mike Omotoso, an industry analyst with the market research firm J.D. Power and Assoc., "because Nissan seems to be having some trouble delivering the Leaf."

Nissan has said 20,000 people have put down $99 deposits to be put on a waiting list for the car. Those people will get their cars, Al Castignetti, general manager for Nissan in the U.S., said, it just isn't certain when.

"Our main goal right now is quality, not quantity," he said.

So far, he said, there have been no quality issues and Nissan is working gradually to ramp up production. Nissan plans to open a U.S. plant to build the Leaf in 2012. For now, all Leafs are built in Japan.

In December, just after the cars went into production, Nissan sold 19 Leafs in the U.S. while GM sold 326 Volts.

Unlike the Volt, which sells only in the U.S., the Nissan Leaf is also sold in Japan and Europe. Global figures for Leaf sales were not immediately available.

For now, sales of these cars are limited by how fast the automakers can produce them and get them to dealers.

"Right now we're selling every one we can make," GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said, "so as shipments rise we expect sales to rise as well."

It will be impossible to gauge consumer acceptance of either car until at least later this year, said Jesse Toprak, a sales analyst with the automotive Web site Truecar.com

"From a numbers perspective, we've got to wait until at least six months into full production," Toprak said.

After that, it may be months more before it's possible to tell whether ordinary car buyers, not just people interested in having the latest technology, want these cars.

"There's enough demand for both these cars to sell 50,000 units to just 'early adapters'," Toprak said.

GM has said that it doesn't expect the Volt to be profitable at least for several years as it works to trim the cars' production cost.

redbadss

iTrader: (4)

It good to see the car start off ahead of the competition. I dont expect to see high sales numbers from the volt but i think it is the best choice for the target market out today. With the extended range using gas, i think that'll persuade more customers to purchase than say the leaf. With the extra gas range, people wont have to worry about traveling out of their local town and running out of power.

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

I think this is the most important line of the article. It's nice to see that GM is selling every one that they produce, but until they can meet the demand, they won't know what the interest really is. I saw one the other day on the street, they look good IMO.

LS1LT1

iTrader: (16)

I agree.

fspeedster

iTrader: (6)

"Our main goal right now is quality, not quantity," <--- I think GM should also be highly concerned about quality. If the Volt comes out to be Reliable it will do great IMO

BanditTA

iTrader: (3)

I've heard stories direct from GM reps about small issues here and there. GM flys out engineers direct from Detroit to look at each car and determine what happened, how it happened and where it happened. They are very set on getting it right and making it right.

Best story so far was a car that needed a new battery pack. Coming to find out the car had been damaged in the recent snow events in NYC and was sent in for paint repairs. Apparently the shop that painted it used a heated booth...which cooked the battery. GM still took care of the bill, with a battery cost of around 10k for the parts.

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

How hot does it get in these heated booths? In the California and Arizona desert towns and cities the temps can get into the 100+ and the asphalt can get to 130+ degree's in the summer. I wonder at what temperature these batteries start to experience problems?

It'llrun

I'm wondering about the ability to produce the car fast enough. There is talk of doubling production(and plenty more from what I've read) and that GM says they're selling as many as they can build. The concern comes in the fact, through January they only sold about 650 of them and production was already supposed to have been 1,000 per month. That leaves about 1300 units unaccounted for. Did they not produce the initial goal and if so, how are they going to double that production?

ThisBlood147

I don't see the Volt becoming a mainstream product until it becomes available in some form of less expensive trim (if at all) and is proven to be reliable and not a financial black hole as far as upkeep is concerned over the course of a 5 to 10 year lifespan. I mean, let's face it.......even standard hybrids haven't really reached saturation in the mainstream market as of yet, even after nearly a decade on the market. There are simply too many less expensive, less complicated alternatives out there at the moment that will appeal to buyers in the lower tax brackets. GM will have to find ways of keeping the Volt viable, relevant, and appealing while the rest of the market gets warmed up to the idea of such a car.

evilZO6

iTrader: (4)

All the dealer markups sure arent helping the Volt. I cant find one for close to MSRP which is crazy, probably why i have seen several just sitting around. Closest one to my house is going for $48,000. I have wanted one since they first came out, but im not overpaying one penny. I had one reserved and when it got here the dealer said $55,000 or we'll sell it to someone else. Then when i went to look at it, they marked it up another $5kand wouldn't even let me drive it. Greedy dealers aren't helping GM at all. What they didnt know is that my dad owned a GM dealership for 25+ years and is kind of close to a lot of upper GM management. I "heard" said dealership was fined and warned My dads friends have helped us secure a red Volt at 1k below msrp.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

GM cannot fix prices. dealers can charge whatever they wish. unless laws have changed its illegal to do this.

as you said you can go elsewhere or not buy it.

It'llrun

They can't force a dealership to sell for x number of dollars, but they certainly influence pricing pretty easily. After all, GM still controls the inventory any dealership gets in the end. Odds of them getting involved, on the other hand, are fairly low. When my uncle ran a Pontiac dealership, he would often complain that GM wanted too little or too much for specific vehicles. That said, he went with their decision most of the time and like any dealership, cut the best deals he could for the dealership. This was back when salesman sold vehicles and GM's oversaw the inventory and managed their employees, rarely intervening in a sale.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

ive been told a manufacturer will get involved if a vehicle has a ridiculous markup and its been sitting awhile. that tends to get them upset.