Nissan and Renault sell 200k electric vehicles worldwide

And look how many orders the BMW i3 has already.

BMW i3 waiting list five months... for a test drive | Auto Express

Tesla S sales are hammering BMW, Audi and Mercedes in CA. I think Toyota have backed the wrong horse. They had all that experience and thrown it all away.

 

Ooops I forgot to add the latest Nissan BEV that's been released in the UK; The e-NV200 Combi. Not sure what you call them in the US, is it MiniVan?

Nissan e-NV200 company car or car fleet - Nissan Corporate Sales

Ignore the prices. The P11D price is for tax purposes and is the gross cost before the £5,000 government grant. Effectively, once the grant is deducted the Combi doesn't cost much more than the Leaf. The cost could be cut further still if you decide to lease the HV battery - though take up is about 20% of sales. Ideal vehicle for the school run?

Nissan e-NV200 Combi pictures (Evalia model) | Auto Express



As a minivan goes, it's not bad I guess.

 

when you talk about how poorly toyota does in some of these regions, the numbers probably don't mean much to them. those are great numbers though, imagine the next tech leap!

 

I think Toyota is showing their competitors how to do it. None of them however, to my knowledge, has surpassed or even matched the Prius overall.

 

The point is, people are leaving the Prius family in droves as the competition makes more desirable vehicles. Sure Toyota has sold and will sell a lot of Prius models but if they don't stay competitive, which they don't seem to be, they will lose even more market shares to competition. It's not going to hurt Toyota much but why give up the edge?

 

I said it before, but Toyota needs a good shakeup once in awhile.

 

They seem to drop the ball back in 2011 when they had that earthquake in Japan. It's like they just lost direction. Maybe they did? Maybe they had plans for BEVs but with electricity supply concerns in the home market they had to quickly re-access their options?

But they're definitely not the company they were back in 2009 or 2010 when I'd just bought my Prius. I've previously mentioned the bizarre pricing in the UK of the Prius where the base Prius costs more than the base Lexus CT200h.

They've lost the plot imho.

 

Well, the global market is their's to lose. If they lose the instincts that brought them to the top, they are on a trip to the bottom.

 

Advanced Economics points out that market penetration cannot progress beyond a plateau if only a single manufacturer offers a fundamentally new product. The reason why is simple; there will be strong competition favoring the older choice instead.

In this case, without the cooperation of other automakers, it isn't possible. They are necessary to increase sales for the original manufacturer.

That means the others have to finally get in the game. It doesn't matter what they offer either, just as long as they aren't supporting only the old product anymore.

It's that embracement of diversity, the act of joining with a new product of their own, is what allows the progress to occur.

 

Why should other companies drop their old products if they keep outselling the newly advanced product? But, Ford, Honda, VW, Porsche, Kia all offer non-plug hybrids already and probably others that I'm too lazy to look up probably do so as well.

In any case, I've never heard of this Advanced Economics theory that you referenced. Links?

I think as long as Toyota keeps on top of the non-plug hybrid product space they will be selling a lot of hybrid cars in the coming years even if they were to ignore plugins entirely. If they keep tweaking their designs (gen 4, etc.) and keep squeezing 5-10% more mpg than the competition and they keep their reliability reputation they will do well. There will be large numbers of people that either can't plug in or don't benefit much from plugging.

This is the inverse of GM's present apparent strategy of focussing only on plugins in the alternative (to conventional gasser) vehicle space.

GM and Toyota are the two largest car makers by volume so it makes sense that they will both eventually make a full spectrum of plugin and non-plugin hybrids. Unlike you, I don't see anything problematic if they each specialize for awhile in different corners of the alternative market as long as consumers see a full market of available vehicle types in the market.

 

Diversification means adding choice. That need has been posted many, time times. The topic has been beaten to death.

Unlike who? Please read my many posts. Offering some competitive choice other than the old is what I've been saying. Again, diversification.

As for the source of such wisdom, it's just economics 201, not rocket science. Market charge requires participation of many for it to happen.

 

i have to agree with john, competition helps to spread the word, and people who formerly saw hybrids as a toyota only product, may eventually come around as they see their fave carmaker get in the game.

 

Once the competition figures out how to make a decent one and rate it correctly.

 

agreed. you gotta start somewhere. i just hope they're all in it to win it, and not just marketing hype. saw a vdub commercial showing three different fuels available in the golf. looked good on tv.

 

And how many Volt owners are leaving for other brands - just wondering.

DBCassidy

 

Conquest sales were heavily celebrated. Some were quite smug about it. They've since grown silent.

What did they think would happen when those killer lease expired and those prices were no longer available?

Taking the long-term/big-picture into account is vital... how to sustain high-volume profitable sales.

 

I'm curious how your critique of the Volt strategy compares to your view of the Mirai strategy.

 

Mirai is a long-term effort, clearly stated as an on-going advancement process. With rollout the first year of just 300 in the domestic market and just 200 here. Heck, by the end of the third year the total worldwide expectation is only 3,000. It is a complimentary technology too, targeting an audience with needs impractical for plugging in.

GM hyped Volt for years prior to rollout, targeting it squarely at middle-market with expectations of hitting mainstream sales rate (5,000 per month) by the end of the second year and having production capacity available for double that by the end of the third.

There is no comparison.

 

Not many that I can see but because of the diversity of vehicles available know this is hard to track. I know some have went to the Model S and some to the i3.