April 2017 Sales Numbers ***2 NEW VEHICLES ADDED!!***

Two new vehicles have been added to the charts, the Tesla Model X and the Hyundai Ioniq!

April 2017 plug-in vehicle sales were mixed, in the vehicles I track. In the three previous years, my April sales were 4, 10 and 8 units. This year, I sold six vehicles, which is slightly below the average of 7.3 vehicles for April, but considerably down compared to the average of the last two Aprils of nine vehicles. Traffic, both phone and on site, are markedly down.

My premature move into the EV/Hybrid Sales Center is part of the problem, as most visitors to the dealership go straight to the main showroom or the truck building. When we planned the new sales center, we expected the Bolt EV rollout to be nationwide from its first month of availability. GM had different ideas…

That being said, the drop in sales is across the dealership and appears to be across Texas, as well. I’ve heard many of my coworkers decrying this slowdown and thinking of other careers to pursue. It’s been that bad this year.

The dealership started taking deposits for Bolt EV, in preparation of orders starting for Texas in June (next month!). 32 people had signed up to reserve a place in line, but when it came time to collect deposits, some had never seen, much less sat in or driven, a Bolt EV. Due to that, only 13 of those have made deposits, but more are coming in every day, even some who were not on the previous list. To complicate matters, a lot of misinformation about the environmental advantages of EVs is circulating. Many articles have appeared, stating that if you count the environmental impact of generating the electricity used to power EVs, they are worse for the environment than gasoline-powered vehicles. Those articles have been debunked by the Union of Concerned Scientists as well as other, reputable sources, but their misinformation persists, showing up as Facebook posts in EV and hybrid vehicle groups. It reminds me of the tobacco industry, in the 1950’s-1970’s, getting doctors to promote the safety of smoking cigarettes. I hate having to have the same debate over and over, but it is what it is…

Here are the April 2017 sales figures, compared to the previous month:

• Chevy Volt: DOWN 15% (1,807 vs. 2,132)
• Chevy Bolt EV: UP 32% (1,292 vs. 978)
• Nissan Leaf: DOWN 15% (1,063 vs. 1,478)
• Plug-in Toyota Prius: UP 8% (1,819 vs. 1,682)
• Tesla Model S: DOWN 67% (1,125 vs. 3,450) **estimated
• Tesla Model X: DOWN 74% (715 vs. 2,750) **estimated
• BMW i3: DOWN 27% (516 vs. 703)
• Ford Fusion Energi: DOWN 10% (905 vs. 1,002)
• Ford C-Max Energy: UP 13% (749 vs. 662)
• Hyundai Ioniq: UP 302% (1,316 vs. 327)

In April, the average price of gasoline was up 5% over the previous month, climbing steadily from the get-go, until the 20th of the month, when it peaked at $2.43. After that, the price fell pretty steeply, ending the month at $2.38.Adoption curves (lower of the two charts immediately above) show the continued rise of the Tesla Model S, The Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf and the Prius Prime.

As I mentioned earlier, in April I only had six sales for the month, comprised of one Tahoe, two Corvettes and three Volts. I did not sell a single pickup, for the 2nd month in a row, so the Volt continues to rise as my most popular vehicle and the Corvette is closing in on second place (which would be fine with me).

Plug-in sales, compared to the same month a year ago, were up with only two exceptions, the Tesla Model S and the Ford Fusion Energi.

• Chevy Volt: DOWN 9% (1,807 vs. 1,983)
• Chevy Bolt EV: (was not available in April 2016)
• Nissan Leaf: UP 35% (1,063 vs. 787)
• Plug-in Toyota Prius: UP 45,375% (1,819 vs. 4) **previous generation Prius plug-in, dying out last April
• Tesla Model S: UP 41% (1,125 vs. 800)
• Tesla Model X: DOWN 10% (715 vs. 795)
• BMW i3: DOWN 19% (516 vs. 814)
• Ford Fusion Energi: DOWN 32% (905 vs. 1,331)
• Ford C-Max Energi: UP 23% (749 vs. 607)
• Hyundai Ioniq: (was not available in April 2016)