Multiple news agencies have reported that Nissan’s all-electric Leaf model has not reached the company’s sales goals in the past year.

According to several media outlets, the automaker hoped to see 20,000 units of the electric vehicle being sold across the country in the year of 2012, however, through the end of October, only 6,791 units had been sold. This represents a decline in sales from the first 10 months of the year of 2011, news agencies reported.

Since the last sales numbers were made public, news agencies have been looking into the reason why the all-electric vehicle was not as successful as the company believed it could be.

According to some specialists, gas prices may have been major factors in the decline of Leaf sales. According to recent data, when the prices of gas were low, the sales of Leaf vehicles dropped. Although the sales did not increase when gas prices went up, some believe that the price of gas may have been one of the factors that kept the model from being as popular as previously intended.

Since Nissan’s Leaf is the leading all-electric vehicle on the market, most consumers tend to look at the Chevy Volt for an alternative that will offer them both electric and gas options when it comes to fuel. According to specialists, Chevy Volt makers invested heavily on “range-anxiety” issues, which may have caused more consumers to go for the GM’s electric option. Drivers who are afraid of getting stranded if their vehicle’s batteries are depleted tend to prefer the electric option the Chevy Volt offers.

The sales of other pure-electric models have not been as groundbreaking as most automakers hoped for. Specialists say that this fact may have been predicted by car makers that preferred to release a limited number of all electric vehicles to test the market and how popular the options turned out to be.

Auto industry experts claim that the only way Nissan’s Leaf vehicle will gain the trust of consumers in the future is if the automaker works on improving the model’s range and recharging time. This redesign could also reflect on the vehicle’s price, which could also be of a great incentive to consumers in the future.
Specialists stress the importance of allowing consumers to pick a cheaper version of the Leaf model, which is already being prepared to launch soon.

Hopefully, Nissan and other automakers focused on developing electric vehicles will focus on improving the fossil-fuel-free models and offering drivers safer and more reliable vehicles.

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