In February 2016, almost every plug-in I track, had sales volume increase over the previous month. Can you guess the laggard? Yes, the Prius plug-in’s sales dropped to only six units. In general, car sales (for me, at least) in February, were good. Some of those income tax refund checks must have arrived! Here’s how February sales looked, compared to the previous month:
- Chevy Volt: UP 13% (1,126 vs. 996) *2017’s have started arriving…including mine!
- Nissan Leaf: UP 23% (930 vs. 755)
- Plug-in Toyota Prius: DOWN 40% (10 vs. 22)
- Cadillac ELR: UP 36% (91 vs. 67)
- BMW i3: UP 36% (248 vs. 182)
- BMW i8: UP 69% (54 vs. 32)
- Ford Fusion Energi: UP 60% (932 vs. 581)
- Ford C-Max Energi: UP 40% (490 vs. 350)
In February, the averaged price of gasoline $1.74 per gallon, in the U.S. This is (once again) the lowest average price, since I began tracking it, over five years ago.
The Chevy Volt had pretty good month, posting 1,126 units sold, as the new 2017 model year began arriving nationwide (mine included). Now, the Volt has closed on the lead built up by the Nissan Leaf, over the last ten months, to less than 700 units.
The Nissan Leaf experienced an increase as well, compared to the previous month. However, the last two months had the lowest Leaf sales since February of 2013. In fact, in the intervening months, the Leaf always sold in excess of 1,000 units per month. Perhaps the malaise in sales is associated with “new iPhone syndrome,” through which the Volt had to suffer, once word got out about the 2nd generation Volt.
The plug-in Prius sold six units. Six. Time to drop it from this monthly report? If yes, what would be the recommended replacement?
BMW had another rough month, at least as far as monthly sales goes. The i3’s sales have dropped to less than 1/3 of average monthly sales, while the i8 is hovering just above the 1/3 mark. The owners I’ve spoken with love their Bimmers, so I’m not sure if this has to do with inventory levels and/or the holiday season hampering production. Time will tell.
February traffic at my dealership was greatly improved, over January. There were several days I never got a chance to eat lunch.
Sales, compared to the same month a year ago, were almost all down, with the exception of the Volt and the Fusion Energi. The BMW i3 & i8 had substantial decreases, compared to a year ago, but I have no data as to why. Being the only European vehicles I track, I wonder if there was a German holiday that shut down production…
One odd numbers thing: The sales volume, compared to the same month one year ago, has the exact same vehicles showing an increase (or decrease) as the previous month. Once again, the only two showing an increase were the Volt and Fusion Energy. Go figure…
- Chevy Volt: UP 62% (1,126 vs. 693)
- Nissan Leaf: DOWN 22% (930 vs. 1,198)
- Plug-in Toyota Prius: DOWN 98% (6 vs. 397)
- Cadillac ELR: DOWN 38% (91 vs. 127)
- BMW i3: DOWN 77% (248 vs. 1,089)
- BMW i8: DOWN 52% (54 vs. 113)
- Ford Fusion Energi: UP 55% (932 vs. 603)
- Ford C-Max Energi: DOWN 2% (490 vs. 498)
