A new Leaf in Nissan's lineup

Claiming that Nissan will be rewarded for blazing a trail into mass production of electric vehicles, chief executive Carlos Ghosn has kicked off a year-long marketing blitz for his five-passenger Leaf to an American audience of environmentalists, government regulators and media in California.

Ghosn assured the audience that electric vehicle sales will quickly catch on with consumers.

He referred to a goal set this year by President Barack Obama to see one million electric vehicles on US roads by 2015.

"You'll have much more than one million cars by 2015," Ghosn said.

Ghosn predicted that mass-market sales will spur advances in battery technology, which will stimulate more sales and bring down vehicle costs.

He said the purchase cost of the hatchback Leaf, designed to have an all-electric range of about 160km, will be within "1 or 2 per cent" of the cost of competing non-electric cars.

But company officials are still working out details about how the Leaf will be available - including whether customers will buy its battery or whether they will lease it separately for a monthly fee.

Leasing it would allow customers to upgrade their batteries during the life of the car.

Nissan is preparing to launch a US$2 billion ($2.7 billion) construction project in Smyrna, Tennessee, that will produce 150,000 Leafs a year, with a new lithium-ion battery plant to manufacture 200,000 electric-vehicle batteries a year. To build up awareness for the car, which reaches retail stores in one year, Nissan officials are mounting a 21-city US tour, using a Leaf prototype.

Nissan plans to ship the Leaf prototype around the US on an almost daily basis, displaying it at college campuses, shopping malls, government offices and other venues. Ghosn said the tour "is important for us to change people's perspective. This car should sell without advertising." He said the company expected to make a profit from the Leaf.

Nissan's electric vehicle plan has expanded. Ghosn revealed in Tokyo last month that Nissan planned to produce three electric models, including a small commercial van and a compact Infiniti model. French carmaker Renault, of which Ghosn is also chief executive, will simultaneously develop electric vehicles. Ghosn said Nissan planned four electric vehicles and Renault planned four models.

The two carmakers were working towards having overall production capacity of 500,000 cars and batteries a year between the US, Europe and Japan.

- AP