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Nissan could almost certainly sell the Leaf for much less. When they wanted to clear out 2017 inventory, they offered $10000 discounts on top of all the governm
by dangrossman 9y ago
Nissan could almost certainly sell the Leaf for much less. When they wanted to clear out 2017 inventory, they offered $10000 discounts on top of all the government incentives. People took a brand new "$32,000" car home for $11,500 or less.
But the market's currently willing to bear the price they're asking, so why not ask it? They sold over 20,000 units of the new 2018 Leaf in its first month on the market, and government incentives around the world make the actual buying price much lower than the sticker price for many buyers.
I also have to disagree about the Kia Ceed being nicer than a basic Leaf. There's many years of fuel savings to factor in as well.
- ec109685 9y agoThey lowered the prices because they needed to sell a certain number for compliance reasons, so it was a better deal to sell them at a loss: Nissan says that lands the Leaf in a sweet spot between so-called compliance EVs—low-cost electrics with relatively limited range that manufacturers produce to meet certain regulations—and Chevrolet’s Bolt EV and Tesla’s Model 3, both of which offer greater than 200 miles of range but at a higher cost. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-nissan-leaf-first-drive-review https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-nissan-leaf-first-...
- dangrossman 9y agoThat'd be a plausible explanation if they didn't run the $10K discounts outside CARB states, which they did. There were no "compliance" benefits to offset any theoretical losses on those sales.