Women drivers seem to be queuing up to grab the discounted Leaf, Nissan’s iconic electric car. Sales have almost doubled since prices have come down along with fears of running out of charge on the road, according to an article in the Detroit News.
The Nissan Leaf looks to be defining a feminine fashion statement with a third of the buyers being women, who at the beginning of the year bought just 10 percent of the cute plug-in cars.
Tesla Motors, on the other hand, with its sleek looks, has remained a man’s choice, with 90 percent of the Palo Alto carmaker’s goods being gobbled up by energy-conscious performance-loving dudes.
Erik Gottfried, director of electric vehicle sales and marketing for Nissan in North America told the Detroit News that the Leaf’s increase in sales could also be attributed to the wide range of trade-ins it accepts. Compared to last year, Nissan Leaf has seen almost a 100 percent rise in sales, with Atlanta remaining the best-selling U.S. market due to carpool-lane access and the state’s tax credits. Gottfried also mentioned high potential markets like Texas and New Jersey.
Nissan is being sold in about 80 percent of the dealerships across the country and will soon be rolling out cars in foreign markets like China and South Africa. Battery replacement rentals and low lease prices starting from just $199 per month are also other reasons for the Japanese carmaker’s surge in the electric vehicle space. Meanwhile women are staying away from Tesla, even more so than a comparable Mercedes CLS-Class or BMW 5-series.
Strategic Vision’s New Vehicle Experience Study (NVES) showed that Tesla buyers had 20 percentage points more “love” for their Overall Vehicle Experience than the average electric car buyer, reported in electriccarsreport.com.
Tesla’s performance is undoubtedly one that steals the show with “Handling and Cornering” being the best among the competition. While other battery-run owners purchased vehicles considering energy efficiency, Tesla owners bought the car not for the green factor but ultimately for the performance that Tesla delivers.
Among other statistics given out by NVES, the average household income of a Tesla owner is almost twice that of the average electric vehicle buyer. The report stated that the buyer usually comes to a Tesla from a Lexus SC, Toyota Prius, BMW 5 Series, BMW M3, or a Mercedes E350.
If money were not a factor, there would probably be a lot more Teslas on the road today. Tesla has certainly started an electric revolution and marketed its fare uniquely, and has now got itself a stereotypical buyer image.
“There is nothing like the Tesla on the road today!” reads the firsthand version of a driver taken over by the Tesla S at the Sacratomatoville Post.
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