2:53 pm, March 17, 2010
CAR DEALER Magazine believes Nissan’s new electric car, the LEAF, is almost certain to be built in the UK.
In an interview with Car Dealer Magazine on Tuesday, Nissan UK managing director Paul Willcox said a decision on where the car was to be built was imminent.
‘The manufacturing location is still yet to be decided,’ he said. ‘But we’re very hopeful it will be Sunderland.’
When pressed on when a decision would be made, Willcox would only say ‘within days’, but smiled and added ‘he was quite optimistic’.
The LEAF, Nissan’s all-electric car pictured above, would join the new Juke crossover in being built at Sunderland. There’s certainly capacity at the plant as the new Micra is now built in India.
It would also fit in very well with the government’s push towards electric motoring and would follow on from the recent plug-in grant announcement by ministers.
The issue is clearly a very hot topic at Nissan. The marque’s press team would not be drawn on whether the LEAF would be made at Sunderland nor on when a decision would be made.
However, we won’t speculate any further – just watch this video clip of our interview with the Nissan chief and we’ll let yoiu come to your own conclusions…
by JAMES BAGGOTT
