Nissan Leaf "On Track" To Make Money In First Year On The Market

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

With over 8,000 pre-orders already logged, Reuters reports that Nissan is well on its way to selling out its capacity-constrained, 25,000-unit first-year production run of Leaf EVs. Better yet, Nissan’s North America director of product planning and strategy Mark Perry says that, with those sales volumes, the Leaf will actually turn a profit for Nissan. He tells Reuters:

We are making money at the price that we announced. We priced the car to be affordable. We priced it for mass adoption

Considering it took Toyota (an undisclosed number of) years to turn a profit on its hybrid synergy drive technology, that’s quite the accomplishment. Of course, Nissan isn’t doing it all alone: hefty tax credits are certainly helping. In California, which is widely seen as the most promising market for EVs, federal and local tax credits combined could bring the Leaf’s $32,780 price to a Prius-beating $20,280.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Tuckerdawg Tuckerdawg on Apr 30, 2010

    I dont understand, have any actually been sold yet? I am all for the leaf and ev's in general but this sounds like mere puffery to me until the actual numbers are in.

    • JeremyR JeremyR on Apr 30, 2010

      Yes, it seems a bit of a stretch to extrapolate 8,000 pre-orders (early adopters, pent-up demand, etc.) into 25K sales over another 12 months.

  • David Obelcz David Obelcz on Apr 30, 2010

    Hammer, hammer, hammer. Hammer, hammer, hammer. Hammer, hammer, hammer. That's the sound of Tesla's coffin getting nailed shut. I'll drink out of a urinal if the Tesla S ever sees full scale production at a volume exceed 500 units a month.

    • See 3 previous
    • Thestig2284 Thestig2284 on Apr 30, 2010

      @wsn "Some Guy, the Prius, not the Volt, will be for those like you who live and work more on the outskirts of the big city. Because the Prius is a better Hybrid than the Volt." So you have drove a Volt already. Wow how did you manage that?

  • Kwong Kwong on Apr 30, 2010

    I've been strongly considering putting my name on the waitlist for the Leaf. My wife and I typically get by with one car in southern California (we primarily drive my TDI about 30K miles a year and her Integra logs in less than 3K miles a year). The Leaf would be perfect for our short distance driving and when we need to go more than 50 miles out, we would take the diesel for a drive. On top of all this, the tax credit/rebate would be perfect for us. We paid a little more than $38K in Federal and State taxes last year. We're $200K in student loan debt and we rent a tiny apartment, so any tax deductions/credits/rebates are greatly appreciated.

    • See 3 previous
    • Tuckerdawg Tuckerdawg on May 01, 2010

      200k in student loans is pretty average nowadays, a ba/bs doesn't always get it done anymore employment wise so its not inconceivable that one feels the need to go to grad school which would put someone around that mark. School's rarely pay for phd's and such, they are all about making money, or making their student's money to be exact. I wouldn't be surprised if student loans go the way of subprimes, it is big business today. Also, if your second car logs less than 3k a year you should just keep it and supplement it with a bicycle lol. Bike gets more mpg's than anything else out there, infinite minus the cost of food of course.

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