From January thru September this year, Chevrolet has delivered 3,895 units of Volt and Japanese automaker Nissan was able to sell 7,199 units of Leaf.

A private firm which look into the buying habits of car buyers said that the car manufacturers benefit a lot when vehicle launches generate buzz on social media networks and the press in general.

Another significant figure to look at is that around 78% of people who bought Volt did not have a Chevrolet at the time they bought the plug-in vehicle. This means that the Chevrolet Volt helps bring customers which buy other brands into Chevy showrooms. The plug-in bring in new buyers more than twice than the other cars of the brand.

General Motors also shared some information about the profile of their market. According to GM, about 37% of consumers who buy the Volt are residents of the state of California. It also shows that about 7% of the trade-ins to buy a Volt is a the hybrid car of Toyota, the Prius.

There are also German branded vehicles being traded in for the Chevrolet Volt. Combining for 6% of trade ins are the Audi A4, Volkswagen Jetta, and the 3 Series of BMW.

The trend for the Nissan Leaf is also the same. Ninety percent of the buyers of the Leaf did not own a Nissan at the time of the purchase. About 18% of consumers trade in their Toyota Prius and another 38% trades in another model of Toyota.

The survey spotlights the way the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt are bringing in new customers for their respective brands after they are officially launched to the market.

The CEO of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, tries to convince everyone that it might not be the picture of the near future. Automakers recently had a convention in Michigan to discuss the future of the industry including the upcoming technologies and vehicles.

During the briefing, the spotlight was on the hybrids from GM and also on the EV being developed by Nissan. A lot of car manufacturers hinted that they are also developing their own electric vehicles but none of them believed that EVs will dominate the market anytime soon.

The forecast of the Nissan topman suggests that EVs will get a small chunk of the global car industry with 10% of sales in a matter 10 years. Through that time period further engine technologies and possibilities will be enhanced or be developed.

Product development though of car makers is still on hybrids, diesels, and the usual gas run engines. No one denies though that EVs will get a foothold into the market. So for now, Nissan and other car makers will sell what can sell and continue to experiment and perfect their EV concepts.