Nissan Leaf sales will hit new record in March, around 1,900 units

During a side session at the New York Auto Show today, José Muñoz, the senior vice president for sales and marketing, US and Canada, for Nissan, revealed that the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle is having a tremendous sales month. The company doesn't yet know the specific number – there are a few selling days left, after all – but it appears that over 1,900 Leafs will be sold this month.

That means that March 2013 marks the new high-water point for the world's best-selling EV. Previously, the best sales month was June 2011, when Nissan sold 1,708 Leafs.

The new record is due mostly to cost savings Nissan has realized by starting to build the Leaf in Smyrna, TN instead of shipping it over from Japan. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn remained completely confident in his electric vehicle strategy, which we will detail a bit later. For now, though, with record Leaf numbers and Tesla delivering 500 Model S vehicles a week, electric vehicles appear to be finding an audience well beyond those early adopters who bought in when the Leaf was released in late 2010 – or the Roadster before that.