The first business day of every month is when automakers release sales data for the previous month. Today, we got January’s sales figures, which are an improvement over last January’s.
But the question that we keep hearing is: Which sells better, the 2011 Nissan Leaf or the 2011 Chevrolet Volt?
They’re the first two plug-in electric vehicles sold in the U.S. by major manufacturers in a decade, and now they’ve been on sale for roughly six weeks. The first Leaf was delivered in San Francisco on December 12, and the first Volt followed three days later in New Jersey.
First 2011 Chevrolet Volt delivered to retail buyer Jeffrey Kaffee, in Denville, NJ, December 2010
First 2011 Chevrolet Volt delivered to retail buyer Jeffrey Kaffee, in Denville, NJ, December 2010
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Thus far (as of yesterday), the Volt is decisively in the lead, with a total of 647 cars delivered through the end of January. That represents 326 in December, plus 321 more last month.
In comparison, only 106 Nissan Leafs have been delivered: 19 in December, and 87 last month.
(For the record, Smart also delivered its very first Smart ForTwo Electric Drive last month as well.)
Don’t go jumping to conclusions about which car will do better in the marketplace, though. Both the Volt and the Leaf are heavily back-ordered, and only modest numbers of each will be built during 2011 as the production line and supply chain ramp up.
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