With the 2014 Nissan Leaf going on sale this week and next, Nissan is poised to expand production and dramatically boost sales of its U.S.-built battery-electric hatchback.
And if its CEO has his way, sales will double in 2014, from the 22,610 Leafs delivered in 2013 to 40,000 or more, perhaps as many as 50,000. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told CNBC yesterday–as reported by Bloomberg–that last year’s surge from 9,800 to 22,600 sales was just the start. It takes roughly six months of lead time to boost production at the Smyrna, Tennessee, assembly plant where Leafs are built for the Americas — and Nissan ordered that production increase last summer.
