Nissan LEAF US Deliveries to Reach 1,500 Record, Ghosn Says

The cold war over market supremacy in the ego-friendly segment between Nissan’s pure electric Leaf and GM’s extended range Volt got really hot when the the Japanese carmaker started making fun of the extended-range EV for having to use gas. But things are equally tense in the sales department, with the two models posting similar numbers of new owners.

GM announced it has brought the Volt to all 50 states, but Nissan is going to opt for increased output to make up for past shortcoming in availability. Nissan big boss Carlos Ghosn told reports on Monday that the company expects to deliver a record number of electric cars in the States this month.

"We're going to have 1,500 cars delivered in the month of June, which is going to be the largest amount we've delivered in the United States. This should help, a little bit, restart the enthusiasm," said Ghosn, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The figure is actually believable, as LEAF sales averaged only 113 in the first four months of US availability, while in May they rose to a new high of 1,142.

The restarted enthusiasm Ghosn is talking about will couldn’t come one second sooner, because some customers who have place orders for a new LEAF have been waiting much longer than anticipated. "The last thing we want to do is frustrate them," he said.

Over 20,000 orders have been received for the LEAF in the US, but Nissan can’t honor them all this year due to the production shortages caused by the massive earthquake that hit Japan. Yet, Nissan’s CEO wants at least half that figure to arrive on American shores this year.