Nissan Leaf EV Priced Under 30,000 Euros in Europe

Douglas A. Bolduc - Automotive News Europe

London, May 17, 2010: Douglas Bolduc writing for Automotive News Europe says that the European starting price for the Nissan Leaf full-electric car will be less than 30,000 euros ($36,976) after incentives, the Japanese automaker announced Monday.

The Leaf is arguably the most daring car in Nissan's history. Along with French alliance partner Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co. has invested more than 4 billion euros in electric vehicles, the company said in a statement Monday.

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is counting on electric cars to propel the French-Japanese alliance partners past Toyota Motor Corp. as the world leader in environmentally friendly cars.

Buyers can order the Leaf starting in July in the UK, Netherlands, Ireland and Portugal. The four markets were chosen because each offers sale incentives of 5,000 euros or more to buyers of electric cars. The Leaf will make its European showroom debut in December in the Netherlands and Portugal while the UK and Ireland follow in February 2011. (See table, below)

Nissan started taking reservations for the electric car in the United States in late April and expects to have 25,000 Leafs pre-sold by December, when the car will be in selected U.S. showrooms at a starting price of $32,780 before a $7,500 federal tax credit.

Renault-Nissan aims to launch eight EVs under the Nissan, Renault and Infiniti brands, the company said Monday.

Since announcing the Leaf, Nissan has promised that the car's starting price would be about the same as a comparably equipped diesel or hybrid vehicle in Europe. The base price for the Toyota Prius in Germany is 25,450 euros and rises to 28,750 euros for the top-of-the-line version of Europe's top-selling gasoline-electric hybrid.

By comparison, Mitsubishi Motor Corp. has said its starting price for the i-MiEV, which is much small than the Leaf, will be 48,000 euros in Germany.