It's now sold as an option on the brawny Chrysler 300 and six other high-volume vehicles.
It didn't make sense for manufacturers to retool factories for short-lived designs or for low-volume vehicles that didn't command a royal price.
Total volume of goods sold in dollars, known as gross merchandise volume or GMV (excluding vehicles), was up 14% for the U.S. in the June quarter, on par with the e-commerce industry.
Dealers are flooded with used vehicles after years of high-volume sales and leases.
Gross merchandise volume in the Marketplaces business was up 16% excluding vehicles, reflecting gains of 14% in the U.S. and 18% internationally.
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However, if volume is a bit lower but its own high margin vehicles with few incentives, there is more reason to increase output.
The executive said the figures were even more significant when compared to the 50% increase in licensed vehicles over the same period and the 46% increase in the volume of traffic on major roads since 1985.
There are examples of vehicles (sometimes many) that have been successful in terms of both volume and the bottom line which do not adhere to one or both of the first two strategies mentioned above.
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Nevertheless, Nissan is vulnerable in another way if demand for electric vehicles softens, because Nissan is building a dedicated factory in Tennessee to produce a much higher volume of the Nissan Leaf, starting in 2012.
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That would be behind March of this year, when sales were an unexpectedly high 1.40 million vehicles possibly due to mild winter weather and stronger economic prospects, and May, traditionally the highest volume sales month of the year, at 1.33 million.
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