Nissan & Renault Likely To Topple 2020 Electric Car Sales Target Early

Nissan-Leafs-Barcelona-Spain
Nissan Leafs in Barcelona, Spain.
Image Credit: Zachary Shahan / EV Obsession / CleanTechnica

Nissan — along with its partner Renault — appears to be well on track to meeting (or surpassing) its electric car sales goal for 2020, based on the most recent numbers from the company.

Currently, the two companies have together sold about 10% of the goal of 1.5 million units by 2020 — of this, more than 100,000 of the units sold have been of the very popular Nissan LEAF. Given that the two companies only started selling EVs just a couple of years ago, the numbers aren’t bad — and they have been rising steadily.

While the most recent sales increases have largely been down to improvements to the vehicles (improved range, lower price), the Wall Street Journal notes that “increasing pressure to meet tougher emissions standards could work in Renault-Nissan’s favor” — potentially further boosting sales.

While both Nissan and Renault have in the past revised their projected electric car sales estimates downwards, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that that will be necessary this time — the industry appears to be picking up some steam finally.


But the fact of the matter is: electric vehicles are a superior product, and almost everyone who goes electric doesn’t want to go back to gas.

“It is getting contagious,” states Billy Hayes, Nissan’s electric vehicles global vice president. Because of this, the company “can hit the number faster.”

Hayes also notes that, with more and more governments enacting emissions standards, many consumers will naturally transition to the use of vehicles like the LEAF and Zoe. He also says that he expects sales will rise steadily (or perhaps rapidly) as the company expands into emerging markets in Asia and South America.

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