April Plug-In Car Sales: Toyota Prius Wins, Chevrolet Volt Takes Second, Nissan Leaf Third
It was a good month for the Toyota Prius Plug-In, with the newest plug-in car outselling the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf in April.
Pent-up demand and the desire to outdo your neighbors in Marin County likely had something to do with the Prius Plug-In’s 1,654 units sold in April. How long will the demand last? We’ll have to wait a while to see how it all shakes out.
Chevrolet Volt sales were down from March’s record of 2,289 sales, but with 1,462, the Volt still had one of its better months so far. Indeed, the biggest loser in April, 2012 was the Nissan Leaf. With just 370 sold, the Leaf was down year-over-year (with 573 sold in April 2011) and way off of its best month ever (1,708 sold in June, 2011).
Prius and Leaf inventory data was unavailable via Automotive News, but the Volt had a 61 day supply as of April 1, down from 154 on March 1st.
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supersleuth said "Purely electric cars are just not going to be practical until battery technology is radically improved." Agree +1. Have to add: these same words have been said for 120 years pertaining to electric cars.
Pretty good trick, taking Volt inventory from 152 days to 61 days in only 30 days, especially with 1/3 less cars sold than the month before. Even with shutting down the plant, you'd think the most you could improve is 30 days worth of inventory, especially if you sell less. I'd really like someone from GM to explain the math to me.
Just about now they are becoming practical, remember those brick size cellphones?, we are at that stage.. and the $7500 tax credit is really not that much to get the ball rolling.
If Leaf can only push 300 to 500, MiEV is going to move 50, I'm afraid.