It was previously believed that Nissan would potentially be selling the upcoming Leaf electric vehicle at a loss, but now the automaker has confirmed that it will be able to turn a profit on each sale. Nissan expects as many as 25,000 firm orders by December.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n Nissan told Reuters while attending an industry conference that it has recorded 8,000 U.S. reservations since opening orders nine days ago, and that it plans to make a profit on each one.<\/p>\n Strong demand for the Leaf<\/b> “We are on a double time march (for launch),” said Mark Perry, Nissan’s North America director of product planning and strategy, while speaking with Reuters. “We are on our way to have 25,000 firm orders by December.”<\/p>\n Nissan will first launch the Leaf in the select states of California, Arizona, Washington, Tennessee and Oregon.<\/p>\n Will the Leaf turn a profit?<\/b> Previously, analysts had suggested that Nissan may have gone too low with its price, even suggesting that the EV would be sold at a loss. Not so, says Nissan.<\/p>\n “We are making money at the price that we announced,” Perry said. “We priced the car to be affordable. We priced it for mass adoption.”<\/p>\n Nissan priced the Leaf at $32,780 – which does not include the available federal and state tax credits and incentives due to its environmentally friendly design.<\/p>\n
Nissan had previously stated that it expected at least 20,000 pre-orders before the car even hit showrooms in the U.S., and now <\/span> it seems the automaker may be on pace to surpass that goal.<\/p>\n
Nissan says that the Leaf sales will be limited not by demand, but by supply for the first two years. The car maker says the shortage will be alleviated once the manufacturing plants are built in the U.S. to produce additional Leaf models.<\/p>\n