As the automotive market shifts to electric vehicles, Nissan is discontinuing the EV Leaf. When the whole automobile market was enjoying the resources of the internal combustion engine, at that point, Nissan launched an all-electric car “Leaf”. In 2011, the Leaf was launched and ready for the market. It became the best-selling EV in the world. There was not much competition in EVs back then, but this car stood out and became a successful innovation. Later on, Tesla started capturing the market and never let Nissan compete. Nissan is preparing to shut down the production of Leaf by 2025 or anytime around it. Read the article to know more about Nissan Leaf and why is it discontinuing?
Also, Read Top 10 Nissan Cars: From GT-R to Navara, Ranked!
Was Nissan Leaf ahead of its time?
Leaf by Nissan was the first electric car of the Japanese automaker. Nissan produced this car to get the first mover advantage. They estimated that by 2020, the whole automotive market would generate 10% sales from electric vehicles. Nissan was sure about this step and enjoyed success for a period. It became the best-selling electric vehicle in 2011. It even received the title of 2011 World car of the year. Nissan Leaf was not ahead of its time, but we can say that it got a first mover advantage and did very well for a few years. After the Tesla takeover of the electric vehicle market, Nissan had a bad time with its Leaf.
Why is Nissan discontinuing the EV Leaf?
In the growing EV market, Nissan’s Leaf was left behind. Why was Leaf unable to cope with the other Electric vehicles on the market? Let’s discuss it.
There could be many possible reasons for the discontinuity of the Leaf, but the major reasons that turn out to be true are the Low sales record and less efficiency than other electric cars. With the evolving market, Nissan didn’t give many upgrades to Leaf. This led to the fall of the pioneer of electric vehicles. The sales record were not going well for the past few years. In 2021, Nissan recorded sales of 14,239 units of Leaf. And these numbers were decreasing every year. Alongside sales, the next possible reason could be the less efficient engine and small car size. Nowadays, people are moving towards compact SUVs or SUVs. Likely, Nissan is also producing Ariya (Crossover electric SUV).
What is Nissan’s plan for the EV market?
Nissan is planning to launch 15 all-electric vehicles by 2030. But we think the OG Leaf will not be a part of this lineup. According to Nissan, they are looking forward to the EV market with their all-new electric Ariya crossover. It will be the first all-electric SUV by Nissan. Ariya will offer 300 miles of range. The starting price of Ariya will be $47,125, and it can go up to $60,125. Earlier, Nissan had a plan to sell Ariya with their original electric car, but now the company has announced that they may discontinue their Leaf.
Also Read: Is Nissan Down Producing The Titan? Everything You Need To Know
Leaf will be present in the market for a while now, but eventually, it will end the first electric car by the middle of this decade.
