Nissan LEAF price war?

Type “Nissan LEAF below MSRP” into your favorite search engine, and you will be rewarded with several sources of information all saying the same thing – the Nissan LEAF price war has started.

With the EV price news lately being dominated with announcements that the Chevrolet Volt will potentially command thousands of dollars over the Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) if you wish to take one home, word on the street now is that some Nissan dealerships will make the LEAF available below MSRP. In at least one Los Angeles area case, significantly below MSRP. Nissan’s approach to selling the LEAF may have something to do with that. As we have previously reported, the LEAF will be allocated to the consumer. The consumer then will ask dealers in the area if they will deliver their car to them. The Volt goes to the Chevrolet dealer, and consumers are subject to the more typical dealership experience in low supply, high demand situations.  In other words – “We’ve got one. How badly do you want it?”

We admit to being somewhat surprised that the LEAF price war has already begun. But in the end it comes down to this fact: all of these dealers are competing against each other, and when you are all selling exactly the same thing, what can you negotiate with? Price. And the winner is – the Nissan LEAF customer.