Nissan Leaf Production Capacity Revelaed

The Nissan Leaf EV

Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said on Wednesday during a FY 2009 financial results presentation in Yokohama that when the Nissan LEAF goes on sale this year—as the first of the eight all-electric models to launch—the Renault-Nissan Alliance will be the first to mass-market affordable zero-emission vehicles, backed by battery capacity of 500,000 units.

No other automaker will be producing electric batteries or cars at such a scale. And customers are ready. To date, 130,000 consumers in the US have registered their interest in buying a Nissan LEAF. With sales starting this December, 13,000 pre-orders have been submitted in just over one month in the US and Japan, largely driven by individual customer demand. This amount already surpasses our available production capacity for fiscal year 2010.

—Carlos Ghosn

Another focus has been on very affordable transportation. Nissan is planning a lineup of global compact cars based on the new V-platform, which will represent 1 million unit sales at full launch, Ghosn said.

Nissan will be able to produce more than 1 million cars a year in China in 2012, based on two shifts at its Huadu, Xiangfang and Zhengzhou plants, and will expand its capacity further in line with market growth. Its intention is to grow market share from 6% today to 10% as soon as possible, Ghosn said.

The Alliance plant in Chennai, India, has started production with a 200,000-unit capacity and plans to increase to 400,000 units at full ramp-up in order to supply the Indian market and to export to more than 100 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It is also partnering with Ashok Leyland to start LCV production and with Bajaj for an Alliance ultra-low-cost car.

Source: Green Car Congress