Despite the arrival of the 2016 models and especially with the new 30 kWh battery pack, Nissan’s Leaf sales are still disappointing in the US.
Nissan released this week its February sales report and revealed that Leaf sales have fallen 22.4% versus the same period of last year.
The company delivered only 930 Leafs in the US in February versus 1,198 during the same period in 2015, which represent a 22.4% decrease in sales, according to Elektrik.
Some were hoping that this year Nissan would let us forget the Leaf’s poor 2015 sales performance, 17,269 units versus 30,200 in 2014, especially with the new 2016 models, but the company is not up to a good start this year with only 1,685 units sold so far.
Potential buyers might be waiting for the Chevy Bolt or Tesla’s Model 3, which both aim at offering about twice the range of the current Leaf at about the same price of $35,000.
They could also be waiting for the next generation Leaf, which is expected to have a 60 kWh battery pack, like the Bolt, and have a range of over 200 miles on a single charge. It could even arrive later this year to compete with GM and also feature a much-needed design refresh.
