Nissan Begins Taking LEAF Orders Now in Portugal and Ireland, UK on 1 Sep
30 July 2010
Nissan International SA will begin taking orders today for the Nissan LEAF EV in Portugal and the Republic of Ireland. Pre-orders in the UK, Nissan’s additional lead market in Europe, will begin 1 September.
Nissan LEAF deliveries begin in Portugal in January, Ireland in February and the UK in March.
Since March, nearly 12,000 customers in Europe have signed up for regular updates on Nissan LEAF’s introduction, and in the US and Japan pre-orders have exceeded 23,000 units since online reservations began in April.
Such high demand has meant the Nissan LEAF will launch slightly later than planned in the Netherlands. Sales are now expected to start in June 2011, with pre-orders opening to customers in October this year. All other market launch dates remain unchanged.
To make a reservation, customers in the initial launch markets need to go to their local Nissan consumer website and place their order. The process requires a fully-refundable deposit of €300 (US$391). These early adopters will also be given an opportunity to test-drive Nissan LEAF thoroughly by December, at which point they will need to formally confirm their order. A dedicated call center for each country has been created to assist customers with questions. Call center details are available on each website.
The price of Nissan LEAF after government incentives is €30,250 (US$39,470) in Portugal, €29,995 (US$39,147) in Ireland and £23,990 (US$37,445) in the UK (UK price inclusive of new 20% rate of VAT coming into effect from January 1 2011).
It makes sense to sell these where ever you can. Early adopters are the first wave, so if you want to continue to sell in numbers you sell in several countries. If it goes beyond that, you have increased production over time.
Posted by: SJC | 30 July 2010 at 01:56 PM