The Nissan Leaf is seeing robust growth across all major electric vehicle markets, including Japan, Europe, and the United States. The automaker is reporting a global electric vehicle sales jump of 10 percent last fiscal year, which concluded on March 31st.
“The strong performance of Nissan’s EV models globally is a testimony to our expertise and leadership in electric vehicle technology,” said Nissan Executive Vice President Daniele Schillaci, who heads the company’s EV business. “The Nissan Leaf contributed significantly to the robust growth of Nissan in 2017.”
Emerging Markets
According to Nissan, demand is expected to rise for the second-generation Leaf which offers increased range versus the prior model. The vehicle will arrive in more new markets this fiscal year, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Uruguay.
Nissan moved 54,451 Leaf models in fiscal year 2017, a 15 percent increase from 47,423 a year earlier. Nissan has sold more than 320,000 since it was first introduced in 2010. With availability in 51 markets, Nissan says the Leaf is the best-selling electric car in the world. The 2018 model was released late last year.
“We expect its continuous leadership in 2018,” Schillaci added.
Safety & Accolades
The 2018 Nissan Leaf comes with ProPILOT autonomous driving technology (ProPILOT Assist in the U.S.), ProPILOT Park and e-Pedal, as well as increased power and range. The new Leaf also received a 5-star safety rating from the Japan New Car Assessment Program in February. The model’s ProPILOT technology helped it score 94.8 points out of a possible 100 for occupant safety in a collision.
The new Nissan Leaf was also named “2018 World Green Car” by the World Car Awards in March.
The Automoblog Staff contributed to this report and can be reached anytime.
Photos & Source: Nissan Motor Corporation.
