iMiev not selling well?

[maruko]

Was reading the stats for iMiev sales so far. 76 units nationwide in Dec 2011, 36 units nationwide in Jan 2012. My local dealer has 11 in stock! Wondering what other people think about sales of the iMiev so far? I for one am hoping that they drop the price even more to get sales!

 

[JoeS]

maruko, where is this dealer located and are these cars really for sale or have they already been allocated to fleet purchases? For those of us with reservations waiting for our iMiEV, I was hoping that Mitsubishi would be satisfying us first. An alternate thought is that the dealer bought a bunch thinking he could sell them at well over MSRP.

My neighbor just picked up a brand-new Leaf, happy to get it immediately for "only" $1000 over MSRP (this Leaf came in to a local dealership but the person who had ordered it was out of the country and couldn't consummate the deal).

 

[FiddlerJohn]

Where is this dealer located?

http://www.anaheimmitsubishi.com/ne...Bmake=Mitsubishi&SBmodel=i-Miev&SBprice=clear

 

[maruko]

Yes that is the one, they are there physically. I drove by the other day. Interesting how the other states are charging above MSRP, there are Leafs in stock locally in Los Angeles now, many of them selling for $2k under MSRP. I suspect the iMievs here will see price cuts shortly. I've been watching their stock closely and some of those units in stock have been there since mid Dec 2011

 

[JoeS]

maruko - thank you for bringing up this topic. After two months of waiting and still seeing my car's status as "Being Built", yesterday I drove over to the local Mitsu dealer, found a slightly upgraded version of the iMiEV that I had on order, and drove home with it last night.

I share your sentiments that it may be a tough sell for Mitsubishi, but with gasoline prices going up and in California the attraction of white HOV stickers for commuters, I hope that they will have a market. In my case, the iMiEV's small size, efficiency, and "B" outweigh the Leaf's opulence.

I just checked my reserved car's online status: unbelievably, the status of my iMiEV overnight changed from "Being Built" to "Arrived in Port"!!! Dang, those ships are fast! :shock:

 

[archie_b]

Since January I've been checking Autotrader.com on the number of i available for sale. My first check in January showed 96, around February 1st 118 and tonight 125.

I am in the Midwest so there are none available here yet. There is only one Mitsubishi dealer in my whole state that is certified to sell the i and I was the first to order one from this dealer (two weeks ago). The Geek Squad has been unable to schedule an appointment for my garage inspection. They said there are "no available appointments at this time". I think they should have said there are "no available inspectors at this time".

Makes me wonder if paying full MSRP is a wise decision.

 

[jray3]

Yep, no feeding frenzies going on 'round here. The Seattle EV Assoc is the largest EAA chapter in the country, and quickly raked up a pile of Leafs, but so far my i is the only one. My dealer hasn't sold their second car yet. I tested the resale waters after deciding i'd prefer a ChaDeMo-equipped car, and it's been pretty quiet on EBay, unlike the crazy demand when the 2nd gen Prius came out, with folks paying well over MSRP for used vehicles that didn't offer the tax credit. If you wanna join the throng of EBay gawkers who aren't bidding on my i, take a look at http://tinyurl.com/7apmpg3
Meanwhile, I'm racking up the miles, just turned 1300.

 

[yellowwaterdog]

Hi, I found my people!

Just as Leaf went through, some people ordered and then changed their minds. I guess the dealers are working to verify the sales as "real". When my i arrived, the dealer called me daily to take delivery - I was on a business trip and drove them crazy!

If you are ready, I ask the dealer personally to find a car - I think some are floating around but I doubt this situation will last long! Good luck, it's worth it!

 

[jennrod12]

My local dealer shows 11 in-stock, too, but when I went by today they only had two that weren't spoken for, I believe.

JoeS, I was trying to get your orphaned car! They had a white stripped-down model, but they claimed that it was pre-ordered by a woman who had yet to pick it up. I asked what happened to your car, and they said they "canceled" the order so even if it was shipped, it would not be delivered to the SJ dealership.

We're waiting to see if that white one gets picked up - we may order our own, if we can't get that one.

Jenn
Santa Clara, CA

 

[JoeS]

jennrod12 - nice meeting you yesterday and happy the test ride I gave you firmed up your opinion of the car.

My cancelled-order car is lurking out there somewhere... I'd let my fingers do the walking (talk about an archaic expression)...

Simply try shopping around, for example in Concord:
http://www.concordmitsubishi.com/ou/concord-mitsubishi/console.do?page=n_inventory&year=2012&make=Mitsubishi&model=i-MiEV&bodyStyle=Hatchback&lockNewUsed=New&stockType=New&view=expanded&pageSize=20&dealerId=[4388_4334]

Wouldn't hurt to put down a deposit to cover your bets - it's supposed to be refundable.

Good luck.

 

[jennrod12]

Joe - your test ride really clinched it for us! We will be ordering one soon, unless the stripped down white one they already have gets orphaned.

We went to the Leaf meeting with the idea in mind to lease a Leaf for 48 months until something we like better comes out. We weren't sold on the Leaf, but really want to drive electric. The white HOV stickers in CA will really help my commute, too. However, I wasn't thrilled with paying so much money for a lease, and also having to be so careful with the car if we were going to turn it back in. After talking to a few people I was ready to give up the lease idea and wait another year to look for a used one.

We were actually going to leave the Leaf meeting near the beginning (we got there early to mingle), but on our way out we saw your car and decided to wait for a chance to check it out - it did not disappoint! The regen is way better than the Leaf's, and also the visibility through the windows and mirrors is better. The price of buying the MiEV is not much different than the price of leasing the Leaf for 48 months, either. The style is very much like the Th!nk City, which we had for 9 months and loved, even though that car only went 50 miles per charge and up to 56 mph. We found then that our average daily driving was about 35 miles per day - very easily doable with the MiEV.

Thanks for being an EVangelist - it made a difference!

Jenn

 

[archie_b]

February is almost over, gas prices are going up, yet the number of i-MiEVs available keeps getting larger. In January I found 96 listed on Autotrader.com. Tonight that number has increased to 141.

I spoke with a dealer on the West coast concerning leasing the i. I was informed they had no lease available for the i, which is the only car Mitsubishi does not offer a lease on. They had five i-MiEVs available, three of which were pre-orders. None of the reservation holders have yet indicated they would purchase the car. To date they have not sold a i-MiEV. It will be interesting to see what the February sales data shows.

Has anyone else tried or been successful on leasing the i?

 

[Dan O]

The Town of Normal, Illinois, the one in the national "I" TV Commercial has leased five new EV's and the leasing dealer passed the tax incentives on through the lease.

 

[jennrod12]

I stopped in at the San Jose dealership last night and they had just delivered 6 i-MiEVs to Google! My salesman said he's lost count of how many they have sold now (a couple of weeks ago it was 18), and they are getting lots of inquiries due to the rising gas prices, which are over $4/gallon here in CA.

Jenn

 

[archie_b]

March sales figures for the i were released today and 56 were sold, up from 44 in February. The number of states where the i is sold tripled in March and will be nationwide within 30 days. To date 216 i's have been sold in USA and 55 in Canada for a total of 271. By comparison Nissan sold 3359 Leafs in the USA during the same period. Using the first four months of Leaf sales in 2010 and 2011 Nissan sold 1044 Leafs.

There are now 326 i's available to purchase on autotrader.com and several dealers are now offering discounts ranging from $700 to over $1100 off MSRP. In the summer of 2011 Mitsubishi projected selling 2000 i's by April 2012.

Still no information available on retail leasing of the i. In the UK Mitsubishi has stated the residual value of the i-MiEV after 3 years is 43% of the on the road price (MSRP - rebates/credits). In the USA that would be about $9300.00 after 3 years ($21625x43%). 43% would be better than the 2011 Leaf and about the same as the 2012 Leaf. Hopefully USA residual values will be available soon.

 

[jjlink]

Plug-In Car Sales Soar In March, Led By Chevrolet Volt
BY JOHN VOELCKER
1,625 views Apr 3, 2012 Follow John

"Other plug-ins sold during the month include the Mitsubishi 'i', which logged 56 sales for a three-month total of 136."
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1074785_plug-in-car-sales-soar-in-march-led-by-chevrolet-volt

 

[jray3]

Ouch, and here I'd been gettin mad at all the "Volt vs Leaf" news stories that ignore the i. Cause or effect? You decide.

 

[Jon]

This is just for you jray3:
"While Nissan Leaf battery-electric vehicle sales weren't as gaudy, they still almost doubled from a year earlier to 579 units, and were also up from 478 Leafs in February. Additionally, in the smaller victories department, Mitsubishi sold 52 of its i battery-electric vehicles, beating the previous monthly record in February of 44 vehicles"

 

[jray3]

Mitsubishi i: President & CEO Yoichi Yokozawa touted, “Mitsubishi i sales continue to grow every month,” which sounds good, until one realizes entering last month they had only sold 210 cars since its launch last fall. For May the little Mitsu sold 85 copies.

 

[tonymil]

Has anyone seen any marketing of the MiEV? Here in NY no one has heard of this car. I've done more to promote this car here than Mitsubishi has!