Availability and affordability of the Ariya were on dealers’ minds at the meeting Sunday, with many of the roughly 200 retailers in attendance wanting to know why they aren’t receiving more units.
“Every dealer was saying how many customers they have waiting or wanting to order one,” Nissan Dealer Advisory Board Chairman Tyler Slade told Automotive News.
Nissan declined to disclose U.S. allocations of the Ariya. But a person briefed on the matter said about 6,000 units were allocated for fiscal 2022, which ends March 31, 2023. About 4,500 of those are built.
Nissan will ramp up Ariya production later this year, with U.S. allocations expected to rise to about 30,000 units for fiscal 2023.
Slade, operating partner at Tim Dahle Nissan Southtowne in suburban Salt Lake City, said his store received interest from about 100 potential customers, some of whom have put down a deposit.
One dealer at the meeting said he was “shocked and deflated” at the lack of supply of the halo model.
“Why can’t we produce the Ariya in any acceptable volume?” the dealer said, requesting he not be identified.
“Customers are walking in saying, ‘I’m sold, let me buy one,'” the dealer said. “But we can’t tell them when it’s coming.”
Slade said scarcity is okay.
“We like to have more demand and supply because it holds transaction prices,” he said. “For the average dealer, this is good as long as we have some throughput.”
