US: Nissan Ariya Outsold Leaf For The First Time In Q1 2023

Nissan's EV sales volume exceeded 5,000 units in a quarter for the first time in a few years.

Nissan Ariya

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Apr 6, 2023 at 3:54pm ET

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Nissan reports that its sales in the United States, during the first quarter of 2023 amounted to 220,061 vehicles, which is 15.9 percent more than a year ago. As in the case of many other brands, the volume was still lower than two years ago (266,482).

In the case of all-electric car sales, Nissan sold 5,214 BEVs (up 19 percent year-over-year), which is the highest result since Q2 2015. That's a good sign and the direct consequence of volume deliveries of the all-new Nissan Ariya model.

Nissan Ariya noted 2,860 sales (after the first 201 units in Q4 2022), while the Nissan Leaf noted an additional 2,354. Unfortunately for the Leaf, its sales decreased year-over-year by 46 percent. That's a surprise because the locally produced Leaf is eligible for the full $7,500 federal tax credit and we expected rather a better result.

Nissan EV sales results in Q1 2023:

Nissan Ariya: 2,860 (new)
Nissan Leaf: 2,354 (down 46% year-over-year)
Total BEVs: 5,214 (up 19% year-over-year) and 2.4% of the total volume

Nissan BEV sales in the US - Q1 2023

For reference, in 2022, Nissan sales exceeded 12,000 (down 14 percent year-over-year).

Nissan EV sales results in 2022:

Nissan Ariya: 201 (new)
Nissan Leaf: 12,025 (down 16% year-over-year)
Total BEVs: 12,226 (down 14% year-over-year) and 1.8% of the total volume

Cumulatively, Nissan sold over 180,000 Leafs in the US (since December 2010).

It will be now very interesting to whether Nissan will be able to finally noticeably increase its all-electric car sales in the US.

What do you think?

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The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) requirements for the federal tax credit for sure complicated the situation for the Japanese manufacturer. The Ariya is imported from Japan, which means that it will have to compete without the incentive. That significantly limits its competitiveness.

In other words, Nissan might be stuck at 5,000+ units per quarter for quite some time, until it starts producing new BEV models locally in the US.