DETROIT — Nissan Leaf sales slowed in September, while Chevrolet Volt sales more than doubled — but Nissan still maintained a comfortable lead over General Motors in the green-car sweepstakes.
In September, Chevrolet sold 723 Volts, up from the 302 cars it delivered in August, when GM was changing over production at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant from the 2011 to 2012 Volt.
Nissan saw Leaf sales in September drop to 1,031 units, from 1,362 in August.
Nissan continues to hold a significant edge over GM in year-to-date sales, with 7,199 Leafs delivered since January 1, compared with total Volt deliveries of 3,895 since the beginning of the year.
GM earlier this month said the 2012 Volt was arriving at dealer lots across the country, but was selling quickly. "Most 2012 (Volts) are on dealer lots for less than three days," a GM spokesman told Inside Line in early September.
Responding Monday to an e-mail query from Inside Line, GM spokesman Rob Peterson said: "Nissan's sales target is 25,000 Leafs in 2011. (Their sales) should be higher than ours. Our target is to deliver 10,000 (Volts) and we're on target to reach that goal. Only 1 in 3 of the 2,100 dealers selling Volts have one in stock, with nearly 1,700 in transit. The pipeline from plant to dealership is filling up, making deliveries much more fluid."
David Reuter, vice president of corporate communications for Nissan Americas, told Inside Line: "We are on track to sell about 10,000 Nissan Leafs this calendar year, which is what we've consistently been saying we'd do since the car's introduction last December. Mr. Peterson would be better served by helping GM to sell every Volt he can rather than dramatically overstating a competitor's sales target."
GM cut the 2012 Volt's base sticker to $39,995, including an $850 shipping charge. Nissan raised the price of the 2012 Leaf to $36,050, including an $850 shipping charge.
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