Nissan sells electric car for just over US$25K; could force rivals to cut prices
Published on Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday its new electric car will cost just over US$25,000 in the U.S., a move that could force rivals to lower prices on similar vehicles.
NEW YORK - The Leaf, a four-door hatchback due in showrooms late this year, will have a base price of $32,780, but buyers can get a $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, Nissan said.
The price tag puts the Leaf, which can go up to 160 kilometres on a single charge from a home outlet, within reach of mainstream car buyers, and it also will force competitors to respond when they introduce their cars.
General Motors Co., which also will begin selling its Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car later this year, said that it will look at Nissan's pricing before announcing the Volt's price closer to its December sales date.
"I think it's fair to say their pricing, it won't overwhelm, but it will have some influence on our pricing decision," said GM spokesman Rob Peterson.
GM was looking to price the Volt, which can go about 65 kilometres on full electricity before a small gas engine kicks in to provide power, around $35,000. It would cost $27,500 with the tax credit.
But GM executives have said they are trying to lower the price as they begin building models at a Detroit factory.
Other competitors, such as Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, also plan to sell fully electric cars, but those will come out after the Volt and Leaf hit showrooms in December. The Volt and Leaf are the first two electric cars to go on sale that will appeal to the mass market.
Orders in the U.S. start April 20 and Nissan is aiming for 25,000 orders by December. The Leaf is expected to arrive in Canada, with limited distribution in the Vancouver area, in 2011. No price has been disclosed.
Nissan says the Leaf will cost 3.76 million yen (US$40,000) in Japan. It will price the car lower in the U.S. because it wants to sell more of them in that market. The automaker says it is confident it can still make money at that price.
But Erich Merkle, president of the consulting company Autoconomy.com in Grand Rapids, Mich., said Nissan may be deliberately setting the price low and may even lose money to establish itself as the market leader.
GM maintains that the Volt is a better value than the Leaf because drivers don't have to worry about running out of electricity. The car's gas engine gives it nearly unlimited range, GM says.
Source : Dan Strumpf And Malcolm Foster, The Associated Press