Competitive advantages give a company an edge over its rivals and an ability to generate greater value for the firm and its shareholders. The more sustainable the competitive advantage, the more difficult it is for competitors to neutralize the advantage.
 There are two main types of competitive advantages: comparative advantage and differential advantage. Comparative advantage, or cost advantage, is a firm's ability to produce a good or service at a lower cost than its competitors, which gives the firm the ability sell its goods or services at a lower price than its competition or to generate a larger margin on sales. A differential advantage is created when a firm's products or services differ from its competitors and are seen as better than a competitor's products by customers.
In the case of the Nissan Leaf, we see a combination of the two advantages with the differential advantage dominating the scene.

By committing to an electric-only solution, Nissan gains six important competitive advantages:

• The Nissan Leaf became the first true Zero emission vehicle. The Leaf isn't a hybrid car, it's completely electric, it has no gasoline or diesel powered engine to supplement for power. Electric vehicles (EV's) utilize no fossil fuels, so there are no emissions whatsoever.
• Nissan power source, the battery, will bring the cost of the vehicle on a down slope. With their partners at NEC, Nissan can control the price of the most expensive component of the car while keeping the quality of it. 
• By using electricity to power its vehicle, Nissan has put themselves in a place where they will be at advantage compared to traditional gas powered vehicles. The developments of battery technology will most likely outpaces the ones related to combustion engines.
• The all electric Nissan Leaf`s cost of running will be much smaller than the one of a vehicle running on gas. The engine system for EV's is simple. Compared to regular automobile engines, EV engines have less moving parts, which translates to fewer visits to a garage for repairs over the life of the car as there are fewer things to break.
• By demonstrating range, performance and reliability, Nissan Leaf is starting to establish its leader position in the hybrid market in the detriment of vehicles such as Toyota Prius.
• Global Brand: According to business Week Global Brand Scorecard, Nissan is the fastest growing automotive brand and trough the Renault-Nissan Alliance, they can move into new markets faster and with lower costs because they don't have to build new plants. (Renault builds cars in Nissan's Mexico plants and Nissan uses Renault's Brazil plant and distribution networks)