As Gas Prices Fall, So Do Sales For Nissan’s All-Electric Leaf

After steady gains and a record year in 2014, sales of the Nissan Leaf dropped nearly 15 percent in January.

Karl Brauer, senior analyst with Kelly Blue Book, says the Smyrna-made Leaf had two factors working against it last month: one it’s electric, two it’s a car.  

“You’d think there’d be this kind of evolution to where people just value the alternative fuel vehicles because of the concept they represent, regardless of how much fuel costs,” Brauer says. “But, it’s not like that, at least not yet.”

Sales of the Chevy Volt were also down last month – with that car posting its lowest sales total since August of 2011.

However, Nissan defies the industry trend away from small models. Nissan car sales were up in January, with the compact Sentra increasing by 50 percent compared to the prior year. The Altima set a sales record for January.