Double the amount of EV sales in two years

Looking at three EVs that have been on sale for at least two years, Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi i-Miev and Chevy Volt, sales have more than double since 2012. May 2014 sales were 4,816 while in May 2012 they were 2,275. Add in compliance EVs like the Fiat 500e, Honda Fit EV and Chevy Spark EV, plus other EVs now on the market and monthly sales exceed 5,000.

The i-Miev sold 35 cars versus 3,117 for the Leaf. Leafs can be leased for $199 a month, Volts $269 a month, i-Mievs have no lease rate. Cadillac and BMW both released new EVs this spring, both have lease rates available. Manufacturers are rolling out some very low lease rates in May, June and July to get rid of 2014 inventory before the 2015 models arrive. Mitsubishi launches the i-Miev in April 2014, calls it a 2014 model and does even offer a lease rate by June.

Mitsubishi has done one thing correct; it has priced their EV at a price (including federal tax credit) that is less than ICE models (like the Lancer). Now if they would just market the lowest price EV on the market and provide some lease rates I think sales would take off. Autotrader.com shows a total of 81 i-Mievs available nationwide. Factor out the cars on the west coast and there are 23 available. Do they have more available? Don't know and neither do the dealers. I asked a Chicago dealer when his other cars would arrive and his response was September, hopefully. He had no information on how long it would take to order and get a car. Looking at what CA dealers are charging, they must also think there is a very limited supply.

The 2014 is a better EV, better equipped, and better priced. Too bad marketing remains the same, poor.

Archie

In France, it's the same....

For Peugeot ion & Citroen C-zero, we had some good opportunities in 2012 : 7000 euros state discount on one side ; brand discount on other side (Peugeot proposed the ion 14,5kwh or 16kwh for 10990 euros ; Citroen proposed to rent 23 months for 90 euros limited on 150 cars, then 149 euros limited on 200 cars, then 199 euros limited on 300 cars)

2013, they were no realy improvements..... as state reduced to 5000 euros their support, and marketing did not proposed other offers than buying the car for 23000 euros (instead of 29990 euros initial price). So still too expensive.
Furthermore, Renault with its Zoé had a better looking car, more attractive with it's 160km driving range.

2014, no new offers, just a 3000 euros brand discount, so the car costs 19990 euros. Still 5000 euros state support.
And the 2012 rental offers are close to the end, so roughly 500 used cars will arrive on second hand market. So what would Citroen do with this amount of used cars ? They proposed to initial user to buy it with a credit of 48 months, with same rate as the rental.
48 x 90 euros for the first lucky ones, then 48x149 euros and 48x199 euros.
That's not helping the new car market. I'm wondering if they still sold cars in 2013 & 2014.
Furthermore, Citroen & Peugeot did not proposed or communicate on any improvement in a MY2014 like it is in the Mitsubishi i-miev.
And buyers don't know if they will get a 14,5kwh or a 16kwh battery....


What a bad marketing strategy !!!

archie_b said:

The 2014 is a better EV, better equipped, and better priced. Too bad marketing remains the same, poor.

Click to expand...

I hate to say it, but I think matters are worse than that. When some dealers are telling buyers there's a 5-month wait while others say they have no idea how many they'll ever get, I think we've sailed right past "bad marketing" to "purposefully not selling." But then why "re-launch" it at all? I've heard the "clearing the pipeline" story, but are there really that many parts used in the i-MiEV that can't be used in i-ICEVs or Outlander PHEVs? They didn't actually have hundreds of NA-spec bodies stacked up somewhere, did they? I mean seriously, as I asked so often during the 2012 model's time on the market, what the hell is going on with this project?

It's just one more chapter in the utterly bizarre saga of this quirky, adorably hideous, frugally engineered, surprisingly frisky little gem of a transport pod. The 2014 really is a fantastic deal for a new BEV; for the well-matched buyer it just knocks the socks off a LEAF. If only Mitsubishi were actually willing to deliver any, that is -- I'd really appreciate it if they'd just come out and tell us how many they plan to make.

I think Mitsu's apparent lack of enthusiastic advertising is probably due to their inability to import cars fast enough to even fulfill their reserved orders for now. The only thing worse than not advertising the car would be to create all kinds of interest they can't keep up with - They already have lots of irritated folks who put down deposits and are having to wait way longer than they would like to get a car. I *suspect* that this may be due to the fact that they're just now getting their new battery factory up to speed - Once they can make batteries faster than they can sell cars, I suspect we'll see lots more advertising for the car. As it now stands, one test drive is all it takes for many people to place an order . . . . *IF* they could quickly get a car, but they can't in many cases, at least not around here

Where did you find out about the new battery factory?

Is that for both the PHEV and iMIEV?