More Women Buying The Nissan Leaf

It’s been said  that women control most of the major purchasing decisions in the traditional family unit, especially when it comes to cars. Women are driving the growth of the small car and green car segments, and the Nissan Leaf is high on the list of many lady car buyers. Women now account for about 30% of Leaf purchases, and the average age of Leaf buyers is dropping too.

At the beginning of 2013, women accounted for just 10 to 15% of Nissan Leaf sales, but the $6,400 price cut has opened the floodgates to even more buyers, many of them women. In the first three quarters of 2013, the Nissan Leaf had over 16,000 sales, 60% more than the sales for all of 2012, and according to Nissan women now make up 25 to 30% of all Leaf sales.

With women projected to out-earn the average men as soon as 2020, which is around the same time electric car sales are projected to really start taking off. As it stands, electric car sales are up over 500% this year compared to 2012, with the Leaf leading the pack. The Nissan Leaf no doubt owes its popularity to the fact that it falls in both the small car AND green car categories, as well as the inherent cuteness of the model compared to alternatives like the Chevy Volt. It’d be interesting to see how many women contributed to the run on the Fiat 500e electric car as well.

The price cut is also helping more families and younger people buy the Leaf as well. Whereas the initial wave of buyers was driven by affluent, older men, the average age of Leaf buyers has declined from 53 to 51 in just the past few months, and by this time next year it will almost certainly be under 50.

Looks like the slow burn of electric cars is really starting to catch on with one of the most important consumer groups of the next decade. And from there, who knows?

Source: The Detroit News