Nissan raises Leaf prices, adds retail markets

Nissan North America said Tuesday that it will add $2,420 to the price of the base model of its hard-to-get, slow-to-build electric Leaf sedan.

Compared to 2011 model year's $33,630 base price, including delivery, the 2012 model will begin at $36,050. The car's upper-grade SL model will sell for $38,100, an increase of $3,530 over 2011.

A federal tax credit continues to take $7,500 off of the sale price. Some states, such as California, Georgia and Illinois, offer additional subsidies on the zero-emission car.

Brian Carolin, Nissan North America Inc. senior vice president of sales, said in a statement that the 2012 model will contain two new standard features.

One is a cold-weather package that includes heated seats and steering wheel and a battery warmer. The other, available on the car's more expensive SL model, is a standard quick-charge port that allows the vehicle to be recharged up to 80 percent of capacity in under 30 minutes.

Brendan Jones, Nissan director of electric-vehicle marketing and sales, said that about 94 percent of Leaf sales so far are the SL trim package, and most consumers were paying for the quick-charge option.

Nissan also revealed that it will begin taking online reservations this fall from Connecticut, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. By the end of the year, sales will also open up through retailers in Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

The vehicle's cautious roll out since last December, limited at first to markets in only seven states, was further vexed by the Mar. 11 earthquake in Japan.

Jones, who spoke at an industry conference in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday, said that Japanese plant output is now fully restored and all U.S. customer pre-orders of the 2011 model are in the pipeline and will be delivered by mid-September at the latest.

Production for both 2011 and 2012 model years are limited to no more than 20,000 sales in the United States. But after 2012, Nissan intends to open a U.S. production line for the Leaf that will produce up to 150,000 vehicles a year.

The price increase will put the Leaf's pricing closer to the electric hybrid Chevrolet Volt. The 2012 Volt is priced at $39,995, including delivery. Some Volt customers also will be eligible for the $7,500 U.S. credit.

During the first six months of the year, Nissan sold 3,875 Leafs while GM sold 2,745 Volts.

By Lindsay Chappell- Automotive News