2014 European sales rise 33% over 2013 as UK-built car accelerates sales- Nissan LEAF leads with 26% of the rapidly growing electric car market
- UK sales top 4,000 units, more than doubling 2013 volumes
- Sales driven by strong customer advocacy with 95% recommendation rate
Rolle, Switzerland, 19 January 2015: The all-electric Nissan LEAF has smashed its own sales record with a 33 percent increase in European sales in 2014 over the previous year, taking more than a quarter of the burgeoning electric car market with 14,658 sales.
This year the Nissan LEAF has been joined by an unprecedented number of new entrants into the EV market and has emerged as the leader on a global, US and European basis. Last year was the fourth year in a row that the electric family car has topped the zero-emission sales charts in Europe.
Moreover, the all-electric LEAF clocked up 4,051 sales in the UK, more than doubling the volume sold in 2013 (1,812). The British-built Nissan LEAF remains the nation’s electric model of choice, boasting 55% of the pure EV market and outselling its nearest competitor by more than 2:1.
Nissan Europe senior vice president of sales and marketing, Guillaume Cartier explains the increase in sales, commenting: “We can now see the impact that word of mouth is having on our sales, with 95 percent of our customers happy to recommend their car to a friend and 50 percent saying they would never go back to diesel or petrol. This kind of powerful advocacy, combined with an increasing awareness of the massive running cost savings electric car drivers experience, is why our Nissan LEAF sales continue to grow.”
Cartier continued: “Data from our CarWings telematics system* shows us that Nissan LEAF drivers drive 40% more kilometres than the European average for petrol or diesel cars, covering over 16,500 km per year. This data demonstrates that this car is the primary car for many households and that is changing the consumer perception of electric cars.”
The Nissan LEAF was launched in early 2011 in the European market, followed by a revised version introduced in mid-2013 with over 100 improvements led by customer feedback.The Nissan LEAF is built in Sunderland, UK, with batteries constructed in a new purpose-built facility on the same site. In June 2014 the 100 percent electric Nissan e-NV200 light commercial vehicle was launched, built at Nissan’s Barcelona factory, with batteries from Sunderland.
| Ranking January-December 2014 | Volume | EV Passenger Car Segment share | |
| – | Total Pure EV Passenger Car Volume | 56,393 | 100% |
| 1 | Nissan LEAF | 14,658 | 26% |
| 2 | Renault Zoe | 11,227 | 20% |
| 3 | Tesla Model S | 8,734 | 15% |
| 4 | BMW i3 | 5,804 | 10% |
| 5 | Volkswagen e- Up! | 5,365 | 10% |
| 6 | Volkswagen e-Golf | 3,328 | 6% |
*Figure used is industry standard registrations sourced from official national sources. Nissan recorded retail sales for the Nissan LEAF in 2014 was 15,096 cars
** European owners of its 100 percent electric car, the Nissan LEAF, travel more than 40 percent further per year (10,307 miles) than the European average for a traditional internal combustion-powered vehicle (7,170 miles). Average is calculated from 2013 market specific annual average statistics using data from the UK, France, Spain Italy, Sweden and Norway. An even weighting was applied to each country to find a ‘European Average’. A German statistic was not used in the European average as the raw data is not available and all average figures quoted are estimates.
| Country | Total Miles Recorded Per Week (LEAF) | Total Miles Recorded Per Annum (LEAF) |
| Spain | 228 | 11,858 |
| Sweden | 211 | 10,954 |
| UK | 201 | 10,468 |
| Norway | 197 | 10,242 |
| Italy | 190 | 9,854 |
| France | 188 | 9,790 |
| Germany | 173 | 9,014 |
Diesel and Petrol Passenger Car Average (miles)
| UK Average | 7,900 |
| France Average | 7,890 |
| Spain Average | 6,168 |
| Italy Average | 5,940 |
| Sweden Average | 7,245 |
| Norway Average | 7,872 |
| European Average | 7,170 |
UK source: According to Department for Transport; Table NTS0305 Average distance travelled by mode. Figure calculated by adding the ‘Car / Van driver’ and ‘Car / Van Passenger’ figures together
French source: According to the Institut National de la Statistique et des etudes economiques
Spanish source: According to a study by consultancy Audatex
Italian source: According to Segugio.it, reported in its monthly “Osservatorio mensile di Segugio.it”
Swedish source: According to ‘trafa.se’
Norwegian source: According to ‘Statistics Norway
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