Nissan to deliver 20k Leafs by September - Reuters

[Marc Lee]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...80237120110420

If they can do that after what the earthquake and tsunami did, I for one will be in awe.

Also note that Nissan released some driver info that indicates that the average Leaf driver drove the vehicle 7 miles per trip? Seems kind of short.

And for those keeping score of which auto show venue (New York or Shanghai) companies use for annoucements this week, this one came from NY.

[N Riley]

If they do it I may get the chance to either take possession of one or cancel. Decision tIme may be near! At least I should get my $99 back.

[Number719]

Well I for one hope they do it. I thoroughly enjoyed the Leaf test drive I did last year. I chose to buy a Volt and I'm sure I would have made the same decision even if I would have had an opportunity to purchase a Leaf because I think the Volt is a better car. Competition will make future electric vehicles from all manufacturers that much better. The number of unbelievers in the world is going to get smaller.

[DonC]

I think the numbers are misinterpreted. What Nissan has said is that it's on track to deliver cars to all those who have ordered (ordered means placed an order and is different than paying $99 to reserve), not the 20k who have reserved. As a reference point, my contact told me that Nissan had roughly 800 orders in early October. No doubt there have been more people allowed to order since then, but given that many people among the 20k who have reserved won't be allowed to order until 2012 it should be fairly clear that we're a long way from 10k Leafs much less 20k Leafs by September.

The bottom line is that if we get to September and Nissan hasn't delivered 20k Leafs let's not talk about a failure to meet the numbers.

[stuart22]

The $99 reservation scheme for the LEAF has caused too much confusion for the media to sort out. These were never solid orders, yet the media in their stories and news reports treated them as such, giving the impression that the LEAF was going to be a whiz-bang success. Nissan pretty much played along, sopping up the false goodwill that came with it.

So now, what did Nissan really say in New York? The story says Nissan announced "it is on track to deliver 20,000 back-ordered Leaf electric cars despite numerous delays and production concerns." If they really did say 20,000 backordered LEAFs by September and they don't, then by all means let's talk about their failure to meet the numbers. There's several possible reasons for that to happen, and we might as well not bury our heads in the sand and ignore them.

Now - if Nissan DID NOT say 'backordered', then it's high time they stepped up to the podium and straighten out the press corps as to the difference between orders and maybe-or-maybe-nots. They need to be responsible and realize any bad publicity should their customer deliveries fall way short of 20k will be a stain upon the entire EV world.

[DonC]

So now, what did Nissan really say in New York? The story says Nissan announced "it is on track to deliver 20,000 back-ordered Leaf electric cars despite numerous delays and production concerns." If they really did say 20,000 backordered LEAFs by September and they don't, then by all means let's talk about their failure to meet the numbers. There's several possible reasons for that to happen, and we might as well not bury our heads in the sand and ignore them.

What Carlos Tavares said was: Nissan Leaf deliveries are about to grow from the few hundreds, to the many thousands, and all current customer orders will be fulfilled by the end of this summer.

So all current customer orders will be filled by September. Since current customer orders probably number three or four thousand, that would be the number by the end of September. FWIW, if it's worth anything and if it matters at all, my guess would be that Nissan will deliver more Leafs this year worldwide than GM will deliver Volts but GM will deliver more Volts in NA. Definitely the former. The latter could end up being wrong.

Personally I'd rather see a great rollout for the Volt than winning a silly numbers game so early in the process and with the numbers being so low as to be irrelevant. You have to believe that GM will sell more Volts than Nissan will sell Leafs if for no other reason than the Leafs are not going to be well suited for cold weather states whereas the Volt will have a true nationwide release. At the end of the day I just want both cars to be a success.

[stuart22]

What Carlos Tavares said was: Nissan Leaf deliveries are about to grow from the few hundreds, to the many thousands, and all current customer orders will be fulfilled by the end of this summer.

So all current customer orders will be filled by September. Since current customer orders probably number three or four thousand, that would be the number by the end of September.

And there is still room for confusion with Tavares' statement - is he referring to worldwide LEAF deliveries or USA deliveries? 'Many thousands' implies a substantially higher amount than 3 or 4 thousand.

To repeat my point, Nissan spokespeople need to be more careful with their statements, because the media can't seem to make a distinction between reservations and actual orders. Not to mention their oft proven inability to understand the genius of the Volt.

[DonC]

And there is still room for confusion with Tavares' statement - is he referring to worldwide LEAF deliveries or USA deliveries? 'Many thousands' implies a substantially higher amount than 3 or 4 thousand.

Nothing wrong with a counting system of 1...2...MANY. LOL In my marketing speak book "many thousands" is three or four. If you get to eight thousand then it's "almost ten thousand". That's normally how it works.

As for whether he's talking about worldwide or US deliveries, given that (1) the guy talking is Chairman of Nissan Americas and (2) Nissan has already delivered "thousands" (3500) of Leafs in Japan, you have to assume he's talking about the US.

[stuart22]

Nothing wrong with a counting system of 1...2...MANY. LOL In my marketing speak book "many thousands" is three or four. If you get to eight thousand then it's "almost ten thousand". That's normally how it works.

As for whether he's talking about worldwide or US deliveries, given that (1) the guy talking is Chairman of Nissan Americas and (2) Nissan has already delivered "thousands" (3500) of Leafs in Japan, you have to assume he's talking about the US.

Three or four thousand is not 'many' in the auto business. To me, the bare minimum for 'many' is when an 'x' number of hundreds, thousands or whatever stops getting spelled out in letters and becomes a digit.

Tavares is listed as a board member of Nissan Global and listed as an executive VP under Ghosn:

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/COMP...ILE/EXECUTIVE/

[Sheffield]

I for one, jumped ship on them. After waiting a year, and having my delivery date shift from April to July I reevaluated what really would work for me and bought a Volt. I will enjoy taking a test drive in July or whenever they finally get my Leaf built and then letting the dealer do whatever with it.

Leaf range is a reL concern. While I really do get 40 miles from the Vilt battery, getting 70 from a Leaf. News says the average Leaf trip is barely 7 miles.