Colo. Nissan dealer goes all in on the Leaf

October 22, 2018 01:00 AM

Ken Wysocky

Olsen: "EVs are the wave of the future."

Though electric vehicle sales are on the rise, U.S. dealerships with EV offerings sometimes struggle to sell them in a market accustomed to internal combustion engines.

But not Boulder Nissan. The Boulder, Colo., dealership has sold 224 Leafs this year through mid-October. It was the Leaf sales leader in Colorado in 2017, with 404, and the dealership is leading the pack again this year, says General Sales Manager Ed Olsen. That makes it one of the highest-volume Leaf stores in the U.S. along with several dealerships on the West Coast, Nissan North America spokesman Steve Yeager said.

The secret to Boulder Nissan's success? The dealership began laying the groundwork to sell Leafs in 2011, before they even were available in the state. It has since created an EV-centric culture that emphasizes sales-force training and customer education. Strategic marketing alliances with local businesses and agencies also have raised awareness of the Leaf.

"It really got people thinking about how an electric car could work for them," Olsen said. "And now those early customers are trading in their Leafs for 2017 and 2018 Leafs."

EV energy

Boulder Nissan, in Colorado, has amped up its EV sales via a well-trained sales force and marketing alliances with local companies, aimed at getting consumers in an electric state of mind.

Boulder Nissan has five charging stations that any EV owner may use for free, enjoying Starbucks coffee and healthy snacks in the dealership lounge while their car batteries recharge. The store also brands itself as an eco-friendly dealership, as evidenced by its service department heating system, which is fueled by recycled oil, and the solar panels on its showroom roof. An iPad on the showroom floor shows the store's power draw from the solar panels.

Through these efforts, the store has sidestepped problems that sometimes hurt dealerships' EV sales, including uninformed and indifferent salespeople and insufficient inventory for test drives. For example, a 2016 multistate mystery shopping exercise conducted by the Sierra Club at 308 dealerships showed a third of salespeople never mentioned tax credits available to EV buyers while about half couldn't offer any information about charging-station infrastructure. And 14 percent of the volunteer shoppers couldn't take test drives because all the EVs' batteries were dead.

"Typical car dealerships haven't embraced the idea of electric cars over gas vehicles," Olsen said. "They think of them as golf carts. Salespeople that've been in the business for a long time have that mentality."

That doesn't mesh well with consumers, who typically do thorough research on EVs before deciding to buy and usually have more probing questions than conventional car buyers. It can intimidate salespeople who are not familiar with EVs.

But at Boulder Nissan, all salespeople are trained to be Leaf specialists.

"If you're not passionate about the Leaf, you're not going to make it here," Olsen said. "We've created a Leaf-oriented culture."

On day one of training, salespeople get a thorough introduction to the Leaf. They learn about relevant apps, how to charge the car and locations of area charging stations. They're also encouraged to drive a Leaf, and many end up with Leafs as their personal cars.

Training includes nitty-gritty details about trim levels so sales reps can talk intelligently about the car and educate customers. Salespeople also are taught to evaluate whether the Leaf is a good choice for a customer. The 2018 model's range of 150 miles "works for some people but not for others," Olsen said.

Furthermore, salespeople learn about tax credits and other available discounts that make the Leaf much more affordable than its suggested retail price. For example, a 2018 Leaf SV with an all-weather package started at $34,655, including shipping. But the cost dropped to $18,155 after discounts including a $3,000 manufacturer rebate for customers of partnering utility companies, plus an instant $5,000 Colorado tax credit and a $7,500 federal tax credit.

Proactive test drives

Boulder Nissan, which sold 839 new cars and 537 used cars in 2017 and is owned by Jason Purdum, also uses outreach programs aimed at getting consumers to test drive a Leaf. "We hold drive events to educate the local populace — just get them into the car," Olsen said. "We even let people take a Leaf for a day and drive it on their commute."

Boulder Nissan also periodically brings Leafs to local companies to let employees take them for test drives.

The store partnered with Boulder County's sustainability office to raise the Leaf's profile locally with county officials agreeing to use internal communication platforms to offer Leafs to county employees at a discount.

"They agreed to run ads for three or four months," Olsen said. "I was pulling in cars from out of state to meet the demand. People from Nissan and from other Nissan dealerships were calling me. … It sent some ripples through Nissan when they saw a dealership selling that many vehicles."

Olsen says he now is a member of a Leaf advisory board that convenes monthly to discuss new ways to increase sales. Jumping on the Leaf bandwagon early has paid off.

"We think EVs are the wave of the future," Olsen said.