Pre-Orders For Nissan Leaf Exceed 19,000

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Thu, 10 Jun 2010

Nissan has revealed that it has seen strong early demand for its new all-electric Leaf car .

The Japanese carmaker said it has already taken 19,000 pre-orders for the Leaf, which is nearly double the 10,000 units that the firms aims to produce by the end of March 2011.

So far 13,000 pre-orders have come from US motorists and 6000 from buyers in Japan. European pre-orders will start next month.

Andy Palmer, head of Nissan’s EV division, said the company would be screening potential customers who’ve placed pre-orders to ensure the Leaf is suitable car for their driving requirements.

He explained: "We'll even be advising some people not to buy - we don't want them to be driving 300 miles a day. It's all about managing expectations. Electric cars aren't for everyone."

Production of the Nissan Leaf will commence in Tokyo later this year. The electric car will arrive in UK showrooms in spring 2011, with prices starting from £23,350 including a £5000 government incentive.

In related news, Audi has announced that it has taken more orders for the new A1 model in its first four weeks of sale than for any other model in its history.

Audi’s sales chief Peter Schwarzenbauer said strong demand for the Audi A1 should help the carmaker achieve its sales target of one million units in 2010.