Chevy Volt battles back, beats Nissan Leaf handily in November 2011

The Chevrolet Volt has been in the news quite a bit recently due to concerns about fire risks from their lithium ion battery system but that hasn’t slowed the popularity of the Volt, with 1,139 new electric vehicles reaching consumers last month. The Volt first went on sale last December so there is no measure of year over year growth but the bigger news is that 1,139 Volts allowed the Chevy to comfortably outsell the Nissan Leaf – bringing the annual total to 6,142 units. The ongoing news of the NHTSA investigation around the lithium ion battery system in the Volt may be dragging up negative press for General Motors but that hasn’t prevented those who own one of the first 6,000+ from loving their electric Chevy. Consumer Reports recently announced that the Volt was the tops in the market in terms of owner satisfaction with an impressive 93% of Volt owners loving their super-green Chevy sedan.

The Nissan Leaf had one of its weakest months of the year – moving just 672 units in November 2011. This number is well below the 800 unit per month average that the Leaf was holding prior to November and with a total of 8,720 Leaf electric vehicles sold through the end of November, Nissan will likely fall short of their goal of 20,000 units sold and delivered in 2011. However, even if they didn’t sell a single Leaf in December 2011, there is a good chance that the Nissan Leaf will be the bestselling electric vehicle in the US auto industry.

Unfortunately for General Motors, even with a strong month in November the Volt still trails the Nissan Leaf in annual sales by a margin of almost 2,600 units so unless the Volt pulls out an incredibly rally in December – Nissan will claim the title of being the top selling electric vehicle in the US industry. This will come as a shot in the arm for General Motors after the Volt started off so well late last year with a much better start than the Leaf but as Nissan has worked through the variation natural disasters to fulfill their 20,000 pre-orders, the Leaf has pulled out to what is likely an insurmountable lead in annual sales.

Other GM News:
GM may buy back Chevrolet Volts from owners concerned about fires
GM says de-charging after severe crashes to define new safety protocol for Chevy Volt
TorqueNews review of the 2011 Chevy Volt: 109mpg and endless range
Jay Leno drives his Chevy Volt 11,000 miles without buying gas
The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro stakes its claim as the safest car in the US
Chevrolet Volt fire could bring about new EV regulations