Nissan Unable to Meet Leaf Demand; Delays to Continue

Nissan only delivered 1100 cars throughout January with 981 one of those going to Japan. There are currently 27,000 worldwide pre-orders for the Leaf. Nissan is HOPING to increase production to 4000 units per month and deliver 10,000 cars by March 31st. Nissan doesn't intend to start taking more orders until these pre-orders are filled.
That means new orders won't be happening probably until the summer, if not later. By that time, the Chevy Volt will be in full swing and the Ford Focus Electric will be even closer to production.

...something tells me that the Blue Oval doesn't intend to have the same supply blockages hurting the Leaf.

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Stay tuned to the Ford Focus Electric Forum for updates and news regarding the Ford Focus Electric as production nears!

Read the full article at gas2.org:
http://gas2.org/2011/02/21/nissan-unable-to-meet-leaf-demand-delays-to-continue/

I am concerned the Focus will not be ready this calender year. We are coming up on March and there is some key information regarding the Focus that is not yet available...first and foremost the price.

I also think the Leaf's delays have been largely exaggerated as a result of an overly optimistic marketing department and favorable sales conditions in Japan. Had the mix between the US and Japan been even 50/50 Nissan would be right on track with delivery schedules.

Hopefully both vehicles are available countrywide by the end of the year....it would be nice to have a choice between the two. I am still more optimistic about the Leaf than the Focus, however.

Interesting point about the Leaf backorders I hadn't considered that, but I still wonder why they let so many people 'pre-register' if they knew or thought they might not be able to fill the orders within a reasonable amount of time?

I like to think Ford will surprise everyone in late summer with a press release that says 'Ford Focus Electric is available at your Ford dealership next week for a price of X and has a range of X', but don't worry I'm not holding my breath! I'd be more likely to bet that Ford will announce that they won't have the car until 2012 or Summer of 2012 or even worse, but who knows! Jay Leno had his quite a while ago, so what are they doing now that is taking so long?

The gasoline 2011 Ford Focus has obviously passed all of the safety stuff, so the chassis should be good to go in the USA - just put in the batteries and change the badges to say Ford Focus EV!

hobbit said:

I am concerned the Focus will not be ready this calender year. We are coming up on March and there is some key information regarding the Focus that is not yet available...first and foremost the price.

I also think the Leaf's delays have been largely exaggerated as a result of an overly optimistic marketing department and favorable sales conditions in Japan. Had the mix between the US and Japan been even 50/50 Nissan would be right on track with delivery schedules.

Hopefully both vehicles are available countrywide by the end of the year....it would be nice to have a choice between the two. I am still more optimistic about the Leaf than the Focus, however.

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For the F150, Ford had a series of things in sequence. First Ford ran commercials about the F150 with the eco-v6 engine for months, then it set prices, and some time after that dealers began taking orders though dealers. I'm thinking that they will do something similar for the focus electric. That means we are not yet even at the starting point of the series.

So that means chances of anyone getting into a Ford Focus Electric by the end of 2011 is pretty slim?

How long did the whole sequence take for the F150?