"Nissan has high hopes for their all-electric LEAF vehicle in 2012.
The car company expects sales of the EV to double and reach a sales capacity of 40,000 units next year, a top executive told Financial Times.
Nissan has already sold more than 20,000 LEAFs during the car’s debut in December 2010 to late November 2011. Most of these units were sold in Japan and the United States. Andy Palmer, Nissan’s managing director of business strategy and corporate planning said LEAF sales were below expectations in 2011. But there are quite a few reasons for that.
The LEAF’s launch was pushed back a month in the U.S. because of distribution issues, while the Japan earthquake and tsunami in March disrupted supplies of some of the electronic components used in the LEAF. Additionally, the Oppama plant in Japan which builds the LEAF closed for three weeks.
Palmer says orders for the electric vehicle are strong and could give Nissan the momentum it needs to double sales to 40,000 in 2012, as the LEAF will be introduced in more European countries and U.S. states.
“That’s our aim: to double that volume, which is basically buffering up against our capacity,” said Mr Palmer was quoted as saying by the Financial Times."
Em: http://nissan-leaf.net/2011/12/13/nissa ... e-in-2012/