NISSAN has slashed greater than $10,000 off the worth of each Leaf electrical hatchback variants, plunging the ageing mannequin into Australia’s hotly contested sub-$40K finances battery electrical automobile (BEV) class towards the likes of BYD, GWM and MG.
Priced from $39,990 drive-away for the usual 39kWh mannequin and $49,990 drive-away for the 59kWh long-range E+ possibility, the Leaf as soon as once more presents robust worth as one in all Australia’s most cost-effective BEVs.
The catch is, Nissan is just providing the decreased pricing till Might 31 – a brief pre-tax time window that feels a bit like a run-out sale for the mannequin that’s rumoured to be retired by mid-2025 with a successor on the best way.
Except the supply is prolonged – as producers like GWM have executed in latest months – from the beginning of subsequent month the usual Leaf will return to its regular value of $50,990 plus on-road prices, and the Leaf E+ to $61,490 plus on-road prices.
Till the flash sale ends, the base-model Nissan Leaf ties with the MG4 and ZS EV (each $39,990 drive-away) because the second-cheapest BEV in Australia, trailing behind the GWM Ora ($35,990 drive-away).
The GWM Ora nonetheless, with its 320km driving vary, will trump the standard-range Leaf’s 270km vary and each MG fashions can do nicely over 300km.
Leaf house owners are additionally pressured to make use of the older type CHAdeMO charging plug, the battery is air-cooled fairly than liquid-cooled and, whereas facelifted for 2023 and up to date ever so barely this 12 months, the Nissan can not supply the type and tech factors of rivals.
Nissan’s pricing transfer comes simply after Peugeot dropped the worth of its E-2008 by $25K – and shortly bought out consequently – as Nissan’s pioneering BEV continues its battle to realize gross sales momentum in 2024.
Australian Leaf gross sales are down 44 per cent year-on-year in comparison with its report 2023 numbers, doubtless a results of its ageing expertise and design.
Since launching globally in 2010 and making its approach Down Underneath two years later, greater than 2000 Australians have bought a Nissan Leaf, however lately it has struggled towards modern opponents.
Whereas a report 2023 noticed 484 Leaf fashions delivered, the longstanding nameplate achieved nowhere close to the gross sales quantity of opponents just like the MG4 (3134), BYD Atto 3 (11,042) or Tesla Mannequin 3 (16,506).
Whether or not value slashes can be sufficient for the Nissan Leaf to take the battle to its Chinese language opponents, solely time will inform.
