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Autoblog Podcast #318

Toyota back on top, Barrett Jackson, Crowdsourcing your Dodge Dart payments, Nissan and Toyota double down on pickups
Episode #318 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Zach Bowman and Michael Harley talk about Toyota regaining the No. 1 sales crown, getting your friends and family to buy you a Dodge Dart, Barrett-Jackson, and Toyota and Nissan remaining committed to their pickup trucs. We wrap with your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #318:

Nissan-Dongfeng's Leaf-based Venucia e30 EV goes on sale in China

Nissan's proverbial other shoe has dropped on the other side of the world. The Japanese automaker, along with Chinese company Dongfeng, has started selling the Venucia e30 battery-electric vehicle in the world's most populous country. How the sister vehicle to the Nissan Leaf will fare remains to be seen, but it's a pretty big bet. The companies certainly tested the model enough, very quietly running 300 trial vehicles a combined three million miles on China's roads. The result is a vehicle the companies say reduces operating costs by about 85 percent relative to gas-powered vehicles and can go 35 miles on a five-minute quick-charge. In China, the Venucia e30 retails for about $44,000, though that's before government incentives kick in. The car will debut with sales in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dalian, Wuhan, Tianjin, Zhengzhou and Hangzhou. The rest of the country gets access to the model next year. Nissan and its Chinese partner are probably hoping for the kind of success Nissan's has finally started to have with the Leaf in the US recently. Last month, Nissan moved 3,186 Leaf vehicles Stateside, a monthly record. Year-to-date US sales of the Leaf are up 34 percent from last year to 18,841 units. You can find more info on the e30 in Nissan's press release below. DONGFENG NISSAN LAUNCHES ITS FIRST ALL-ELECTRIC VEHICLE - Venucia `e30' offers trusted, affordable, pure EV experience for Chinese consumers - SHANGHAI, China (September 10, 2014) - Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (DFL-PV) today launches its first pure-electric vehicle model, "e30," from its local Venucia brand. With a five million kilometer pilot run across China completed prior to launch, e30 is trusted to bring Chinese consumers an enjoyable EV experience at affordable running costs. Its starting price is set at RMB 267,800 Venucia e30 Jun Seki, President of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. (DFL), Nissan's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd., said, "With Nissan Global's advanced technology, sales experience and know-how of electric vehicle, the Venucia e30 has been locally developed through our careful studies about market situations and consumer needs in China. I am looking forward to seeing the Venucia e30 lead China's electric-vehicle market into the future and also to more development of new energy vehicles and the wide adoption of electric vehicles in China." e30 achieves an optimal balance between driving range, affordability and convenient charging.

Chevy Volt sales drop in June, Nissan Leaf inches upwards

Different month, same story. That's the gist of the monthly US sales numbers from the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. These were the first two mass-market plug-in vehicles to go on sale in the US and we've been comparing their sales numbers for what seems like ages now. So far, the 2014 tale of the tape shows the all-electric once again trumping the plug-in hybrid. The last time the Volt outsold the Leaf was in October 2013. Chevrolet sold 1,777 Volts in June. That was good enough to be the Volt's best sales month of the year, but it's down 34 percent from the 2,698 units sold in June 2013. In fact, it's on par with the 1,760 Volts sold in June 2012. Given the steady sales, General Motors might need to push up the release of the next-gen Volt to gin up excitement, especially if it also offers some of the things that current Volt drivers say they want improved: more range, a lower price and a fifth seat. GM also said it sold 85 Spark EVs in June, an increase of 215 percent over June 2013 Nissan sold 2,347 Leafs last month. The good news continues for Nissan, which says it sold 2,347 Leafs last month. That's an increase of 5.5 percent over 2013 numbers and makes 2014 the best June ever for Leaf sales. Let's credit Texas. Toby Perry, Nissan's director of EV sales and marketing, said in a statement that, "Since the Texas state incentive went into effect in May, we've seen a big jump in Leaf sales in the Austin, Dallas and Houston markets. Our dealers are telling us that they saw more traffic in their stores, and they had their best Leaf sales performance in the last weekend in June." Even with that increase, Atlanta remains the top Leaf market. Nissan has sold 12,736 Leafs in the US so far this year; Chevy 8,615 Volts. Our detailed monthly sales write-up of green cars in the US, including plug-in vehicles, hybrids and diesel cars, is coming soon. For now, we invite you to discuss these numbers in the Comments. Related Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf View 55 Photos News Source: GM, Nissan Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales