The largely anticipated Nissan Leaf electric vehicle will hit Australian dealers and showrooms in June of 2012. Initially, the Nissan Leaf will be sold at 13 dealerships in the main cities of Australia, and will be offered in other Nissan dealerships over the coming years.
Nissan invested over $5 billion in their electric vehicle development since 1991, and that has helped the company take the lead in electric vehicle sales. Nissan has sold more than 20,000 Nissan Leaf electric vehicles worldwide.
Nissan’s commitment to electric vehicles has allowed them to price the Nissan Leaf very competitively. The asking price for the Nissan Leaf in Australia will be $51,500. That price will position it very competitively against the Mitsubishi i-Miev, which is priced at $48,800. Mitsubishi does have a leg up on Nissan as the Mitsubishi i-Miev will be available before the Nissan Leaf.
Like Mitsubishi, Nissan is following along and has a customer journey program. Before selling you a Nissan Leaf, the company wants to ensure that your needs fit with what the Leaf can do. Nissan wants to avoid negative press caused by people buying the Leaf and expecting it to do more than everyone knows it can. With 140km per charge, the Nissan Leaf will offer more driving range than the average daily Australian commute.
Nissan currently has 16 Leafs in the country as part of an electric vehicle trial. Nissan Australia’s CEO Dan Thompson says the Leaf is not a niche product and is expected to have mass market appeal. Nissan Australia is expecting sales in the first year to count in the hundreds. “We’ve stated before that we expect to see meaningful sales volumes from LEAF as a contribution to Nissan Australia’s market growth expectations and zero emission leadership aspirations.” he said.
The Nissan Leaf battery pack is expected to last around a decade, and servicing is significantly less than a conventional car. Nissan expects to sell at least 250,000 electric vehicles by 2014 and is planning on launching another seven battery powered vehicles over the coming years.