Nissan expands Leaf electric car to the biggest Latin American markets

Latin America has been underserved by automakers when it comes to electric vehicles, but Nissan is looking to change that by launching the Leaf in the biggest Latin American markets.

Nissan confirmed that it began selling the Leaf, its best-selling electric car, in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia this month.

Guy Rodriguez, chairman of Nissan Latin America, commented on the launch:

“Latin America’s accelerating development and growth require safe, intelligent and sustainable mobility solutions. The Nissan LEAF will enable us to contribute to a zero-emission future that will improve the lives of our customers.”

Ricardo Flammini, Nissan vice president of Marketing and Sales for Latin America, added (translated from Spanish):

“Nissan LEAF, as the world’s first large-scale electric production vehicle, has led the way towards a transformation in the sensation generated by driving a vehicle, making it a much more exciting experience and making the comfort of electric driving reach a greater number of people. Customers in Latin America have been very interested in this change. During the pre-sale period we have received hundreds of inquiries and we have already completed 85 LEAF sales units that will be delivered in the coming weeks.”

The pre-sale period started last year in those markets.

EV sales in Latin America almost doubled last year, but the numbers are still incredibly small at about 3,500 units and Mexico represents more than half of sales.

That’s extremely small considering the Latin American market buys over 5 million cars per year.

Nissan has sold over 400,000 Leaf electric cars worldwide to date.

Earlier this year, Nissan launched the new Leaf Plus, an updated version of the Leaf with a new 62kWh battery pack — resulting in more range.