Nearly 78% of Volt buyers didn’t own a Chevrolet before purchasing the plug-in electric. Nearly 90% of Leaf buyers didn’t own a Nissan beforehand.
Some 37% of Chevrolet Volt buyers are from California, which is a weak market for GM. The most frequently traded-in car for the Volt is the Toyota Prius, accounting for 7% of trade-ins, according to the L.A. Times. About 18% of the Nissan Leaf trade-ins are the Prius, says Nissan. Nearly 38% of all Leaf trade-ins are Toyotas.
Both vehicles are attracting shoppers who come to dealerships to look at the EVs, but ultimately buy something else in the lineups. Even so, the Chevrolet Cruze — a car that’s benefited from sharing a space with the Volt — only has a 48% conquest rate, which is just 5% more than Chevrolet’s overall conquest rate.
