In October 2016, the plug-in sales were up, across the board, (at least for those reporting by November 2nd…) with one notable exception (and one not so notable): The Tesla Model S. The Tesla Model S had been coming on strong, but last month’s sales showed a precipitous drop. Toyota has not yet announced the Plug-in Prius’ sales figures.
Here are the October 2016 sales figures, compared to the previous month:
- Chevy Volt: UP 8% (2,191 vs. 2,031)
- Nissan Leaf: UP 7% (1,412 vs. 1,316)
- Plug-in Toyota Prius: DONE??? (0 vs. 4)
- Tesla Model S: DOWN 79% (925 vs. 4,350) **estimated
- BMW i3: UP 13% (442 vs. 391)
- BMW i8: UP 26% (199 vs. 158)
- Ford Fusion Energi: ????% (??? vs. 1,652) **awaiting sales results
- Ford C-Max Energy: ????% (??? vs. 689) **awaiting sales results
In October, the average price of gasoline rose by 2 cents, to $2.23 per gallon, in the U.S. It rose sharply at first, peaking at $2.26, at the end of the first week, and then steadily dropped for the remainder of the month, ending around $2.21.
October started incredibly slowly for me, with only two sales in the first half of the month. Traffic was very low and it is my opinion that the election is the issue. Such uncertainty we’re seeing in the last week of the election seems to have people holding onto cash and/or avoiding new obligations. However, the sales pace picked up, in the very last week. I ended the month with six sales for October, not a good month for me at all.
One interesting oddity in my 3+ years of vehicle sales: I have never, ever sold a vehicle in the November 1st through November 7th timeframe. I have no other consistent, week-long goose eggs, making this week an ideal week for a vacation! It will be interesting to see if the trend continues for this, the 4th November.
My sales, by vehicle, included one Volt and one Silverado 1500, keeping the Volt lead of one unit, over the pickup. I’m pretty pleased with that. I also sold a couple Corvettes, one of which was a 2017 Grand Sport, so for the last two months, my 3rd-place vehicle, (in sales volume) the Corvette has closed in on my 2nd-place vehicle, the Silverado 1500.
Plug-in sales, compared to the same month a year ago, were mixed. The Prius seems to have had zero sales. The BMW i3 and Tesla Model S were both down steeply, while the Volt, Leaf and BMW i8 were up. Still awaiting Ford numbers…
- Chevy Volt: UP 8% (2,191 vs. 2,035)
- Nissan Leaf: UP 14% (1,412 vs. 1,238)
- Plug-in Toyota Prius: DONE? (0 vs. 91)
- Tesla Model S: DOWN 51% (925 vs. 1,900)
- BMW i3: DOWN 55% (442 vs. 986)
- BMW i8: UP 34% (199 vs. 149)
- Ford Fusion Energi: Who knows? (??? vs. 849)
- Ford C-Max Energi: Who knows? (??? vs. 695)
You can use my comments I posted with this picture as a point for prospective Volt buyers. My observations based on having owned two Volts and driven them going past four years now, might not reflect why someone else might consider a Volt, but not many people “abuse” Volts like I do, and have absolutely no issues or complaints about them in regard to durability, reliability, economy and the fact the Volt is capable of making the “long haul” as I never expected them to do.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1795523047403923&set=a.1382939961995569.1073741829.100008387343855&type=3&theater
For the uninitiated: That last comment was from Luke Warm of worldwide (and even Texaswide) Facebook fame. He’s got great stories posted in “Chevy Volt Owners!”