March 2016 was a big month, in car sales, for me. I had my best month ever and oddly enough, my previous best month was last March. What’s up with that? Are tax refund checks burning a hole in everyone’s pockets?
Every single plug-in I track, had sales volume increase over the previous month (although, for one of those, there aren’t any bragging rights…). Here’s the March sales figures, compared to the previous month:
- Chevy Volt: UP 66% (1,865 vs. 1,126)
- Nissan Leaf: UP 34% (1,246 vs. 930)
- Plug-in Toyota Prius: UP 17% (7 vs. 6) **but only one additional car sale
- Cadillac ELR: UP 14% (104 vs. 91)
- BMW i3: UP 34% (332 vs. 248)
- BMW i8: UP 65% (89 vs. 54)
- Ford Fusion Energi: UP 33% (1,238 vs. 932)
- Ford C-Max Energi: UP 24% (610 vs. 490)
In March, the averaged price of gasoline $2.00 per gallon, in the U.S. This is a significant increase
The Chevy Volt had pretty good month, posting 1,865 units sold, as the new 2017 model year began arriving nationwide. Now, the Volt has closed on the lead built up by the Nissan Leaf, over the last ten months, to only than 57 units. My expectation is that next month, it will reclaim the top spot for the vehicles I track.
March traffic at my dealership was significantly improved, over February (which had been a big jump up, over January).
Sales, compared to the same month a year ago, were almost the same as last month, with the exception that the ELR showed an increase instead of a decrease. The BMW i3 & i8 had substantial decreases again, compared to a year ago. This is still a mystery to me.
I mentioned this last month:
“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…”
Are we seeing a trend now that it has gone on for a few months? I’ve long believed the Prius Plug-in and Cadillac ELR were doomed by poor sales performance. This blip in ELR sales will not matter. The Prius is another matter. Another blogger in the EV space made the case to me that the next generation plug-in Prius will be the “tipping point” plug-in, due to the famed Prius badge. Toyota has also already stated that the new Prius can reach speeds of up to 84 MPH on electricity alone.
(The Volt and ELR, for the uninitiated, can reach their top speed of 101 MPH on electricity alone.)
I disagree with the inevitability of Prius success, because I feel that, unless the all-electric range is at least 40 miles, consumers are starting to consider it a poor alternative to a pure EV or the Volt/ELR. Legendary status of the original Prius will not save the next generation Prius, unless they start to step up their electric range.
- Chevy Volt: UP 192% (1,865 vs. 639)
- Nissan Leaf: DOWN 31% (1,246 vs. 1,817)
- Plug-in Toyota Prius: DOWN 99% (7 vs. 473)
- Cadillac ELR: UP 13% (104 vs. 92)
- BMW i3: DOWN 64% (332 vs. 922)
- BMW i8: DOWN 38% (89 vs. 143)
- Ford Fusion Energi: UP 48% (1,238 vs. 837)
- Ford C-Max Energi: DOWN 15% (610 vs. 715)
