New car sales
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Automakers and their dealers know that when a vehicle is updated, redesigned, or discontinued, the last lagging examples of the old model may sit on lots for months, perhaps even years. So it appears to be with the Honda Insight, the subcompact mild hybrid hatchback that the company discontinued after the 2014 model year. DON'T MISS: Honda Ends 3 Green Models For 2015: Insight, Fit EV, FCX Clarity As carmakers start to launch their 2016 models, there appears to be more of the little Insights left on dealer lots--as measured by its sales rate--than any other model sold in the U.S. That's the...
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BMW Targets Twice As Many Electric-Car Sales This Year
BMW hopes to increase sales of both the i3 and i8.
Stephen Edelstein -
Plug-in Electric Car Sales In Canada, Mar 2015: Tesla On Top Again (Most Likely)
As expected, the Tesla Model S was a “three-peat” plug-in electric vehicle sales champion in Canada back in February, with its 48 sales comfortably exceeding those of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf at 38 apiece. With the electric flagships at Chevy and Nissan again limited to double...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Mar: Leaf Surpasses Volt In Total Sales Since 2010: UPDATED
For more than four years, the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt have been the highest-volume plug-in electric cars sold in the U.S. Last month, for the first time in roughly three years, the Nissan Leaf's total U.S. sales surpassed those of the Chevrolet Volt. With March deliveries of 1,817 Leafs...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Motors Releases Quarterly Sales: 10,030 Cars Sold Globally Jan-Mar
Tesla Motors started deliveries of its all-electric Roadster more than six years ago. Since then, the Silicon Valley electric-car maker has released its sales data in various ways at various times, usually only during quarterly earnings reports. Today, the company announced that it would provide...
John Voelcker -
Which States Have The Most Diesel Vehicles? New Data Gives Results
Just as diesel fuel isn't available at every single gas station, diesel vehicles are unevenly distributed in the United States. And despite double-digit rises in registration numbers, the preponderance of diesel engines in North America remain in trucks--especially heavy-duty trucks--rather than...
John Voelcker -
It's often said that one of the bigger impediments to sales of electric cars is car dealerships. Among plug-in car shoppers, stories abound of salespeople who know little or nothing about electric vehicles, misrepresent their abilities, and aggressively steer shoppers away from them toward gasoline alternatives. Rarely, however, is this kind of behavior documented for the world to see. DON'T MISS: 2015 Kia Soul EV: First Drive Of Newest Electric Car Which leads us to the case of the buyer who contacted Kia of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, to ask about the Kia Soul EV. As covered last...
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Tesla Store Helpful, Enthusiastic; One Chevy Volt Dealer, Not So Much
It's long been known that getting some car dealerships to sell plug-in electric cars can be a challenge. Now, one reporter tested the thesis for himself, by visiting both his local Tesla store--to inquire about the Model S electric luxury sedan--and his local Chevrolet dealer, to ask about the Volt...
John Voelcker -
Dear Tesla: Car And Driver's Hilarious Take On Why Car Dealers Are Awesome
Ah, satire. From Jonathan Swift's "modest proposal" to MAD Magazine in the formative years of many pre-teen boys, it serves as a bracing reminder of the absurdity of life. Fast forward to the ongoing state-by-state battles between Tesla Motors and lobbyists for state and national car-dealer...
John Voelcker -
Green 'Alternative Power' Vehicles No Longer A Top 10 Segment In 2014: Report
Green cars were bumped out of the top 10 new-vehicle segments in 2014, new research claims.
Stephen Edelstein -
Plug-in Electric Car Sales In Canada, Feb 2015: Tesla May Be On Top, BC Incentives Back
After strong December and January sales, Tesla may "three-peat" atop Canadian rankings for plug-in electric car sales last month. Lower-than-usual Volt and Leaf sales mirrored lower-than-usual temperatures across most of Canada in February, meaning the Tesla Model S stood a good chance of taking...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Feb: Cold-Weather Doldrums Continue: FINAL UPDATE
Winter is always a slower sales time for plug-in electric cars than the warmer months, and last month looks like it won't be any exception. Sales of most of the highest-selling battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models stayed roughly at levels similar to those of January. While a blockbuster...
John Voelcker -
The Honda Accord Hybrid was launched as a 2014 model, and the first few were sold back in October 2013. But over the next year, despite favorable reviews and a handful of awards, the Accord Hybrid remained a rare beast indeed on dealership lots. Now, more than a year later, it appears that supply has finally caught up to demand for Honda's 47-mpg hybrid mid-size sedan. DON'T MISS: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Still In Very Short Supply: Why? (Aug 2014) Green Car Reports wrote last August that reader complaints about lack of availability were continuing to come in, 10 months after the hybrid...
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Will China Overtake The U.S. In Electric-Car Sales This Year?
Modern plug-in electric cars have been on sale in the U.S. since December 2010, and in China even longer. The BYD F3DM, a compact plug-in hybrid sedan, went into very limited production in 2008, though early deliveries were strictly to fleets and government agencies. DON'T MISS: China Overtook U.S...
John Voelcker -
Gas Prices Don't Affect Electric-Car Sales: Finally The Word Gets Out
New studies show low gas prices don't hurt electric-car sales.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota Prius Loses Best-Selling Car In California Title To Honda Accord
The Toyota Prius is no longer the best-selling car in California.
Stephen Edelstein -
Plug-in Electric Car Sales In Canada, Jan 2015: Volt Bolts To Early Lead
The Chevy Volt bolted to an early lead in Canada's 2015 plug-in electric vehicle sales, with 71 sales. That's nearly double the Nissan Leaf's January total of 36. We'll see if the Volt can sustain this lead, as the Leaf outsold it by a margin of 393 to 372 during the last four months of 2014. DON'T...
Matthew Klippenstein -
FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Jan: Winter Slump Sets In
Last year's U.S. sales of plug-in electric cars were the highest on record, but now the traditional winter sales slump has set in with a bang. Electric car sales usually dip during the coldest months, and last January was the lowest sales month of the year--but this January's results apparently...
John Voelcker -
As U.S. taxpayers start to grapple with their income-tax filings, due April 15, tens of thousands of taxpayers will benefit from a Federal income-tax credit of $2,500 to $7,500 offered to buyers of plug-in electric cars. Enacted in 2009, it was intended to spur the early sales of such cars whose prices remain higher than those of their gasoline equivalents. DON'T MISS: White House Budget Asks For $10K Electric-Car Credit, Natural-Gas Cars Added With more than 285,000 battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars on U.S. roads today, that credit likely helped cut the cost of a majority of them. But...
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FINAL UPDATE: Plug-In Electric Car Sales Continue Rise In 2014, To 118,500
Plug-in electric car sales during 2014 rose above the 100,000 level, to total roughly 118,500. Last year's total represents a 27-percent gain over calendar year 2013. It's the third annual increase in full-year sales in the U.S. since modern electric cars first went on sale in December 2010; the...
John Voelcker -
BMW Diesel Model Sales Unaffected By Lower Gas Prices, Exec Says
BMW will continue to pursue its diesel-heavy strategy.
Stephen Edelstein -
Is BMW i3 Electric Car Selling Better In U.S. Than Germany?
One of the notable features of last year's electric-car sales was the strong, and so far sustained, sales of the radical new BMW i3 electric car. The little plastic-bodied battery-electric vehicle from Munich, with its odd coach doors and its rear electric motor, sold more than 1,000 cars a month...
John Voelcker -
Why New Car Sales Won't Set Records: Lots Of Little Reasons, Says Economist
Many small individual factors will keep car sales down, an economist says.
Stephen Edelstein -
Once More: Low Gas Prices Don't Hurt Electric-Car Sales
Data is important. Data on the effects of changing economic factors is very important to the car industry. Which is why it's disappointing to see a Nissan executive repeating the canard that falling gas prices can hurt sales of plug-in electric cars. DON'T MISS: Plug-In Electric Car Sales Continue...
John Voelcker