Electric vehicle sales, this year, have far exceeded expectations, if last year’s sales numbers were any indication. The Nissan Leaf has benefited from the boom, which is good news for everyone.
From January through July of 2012, Nissan Leaf sold just 3,543 units but, in the same seven-month span this year, Nissan Leaf has moved 11,703 units, about 230% more than last year. Clients are buying more cars, which means that dealers are moving more cars off the lot. Anyone interested in looking at a Nissan Leaf won’t be able to look at or test drive them if they’re not on the lot, so dealers are asking for more cars from the factory, which means that Nissan will have to boost production.
As we know, an electric vehicle, like the Nissan Leaf, doesn’t simply spring into existence on its own, but requires the cooperation of a number of other companies that supply it. Recently, Tesla Motors CEO, Elon Musk, expressed how ridiculous it is to boost production without boosted supply. Once these other companies get on track, more Tesla Model S can be made. The same goes for Nissan, who needs to boost production of the Nissan Leaf to match sales numbers that have better than tripled in the last year.
This is good news for a number of workers and other industries that supply parts for the Nissan Leaf. One bottleneck to increased production numbers was that of the electric motor production line, in Tennessee, which Nissan addressed by adding a third shift. Next month, Nissan could add a second shift to the lithium-ion battery pack production line, as well. Want to work on supplying the Nissan Leaf? Better move to Tennessee!
Image © Nissan
