YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. — The Leaf electric car is rolling down the bustling assembly line at Nissan's Oppama plant, taking the place of a gasoline-powered compact whose production was moved abroad last year.
The Oppama plant in Yokosuka is a showcase for Nissan Motor Co.'s ambitions to be a leader in green auto technology. And the plant, shown to reporters Tuesday, is good publicity for the company amid recent moves by automakers, including Nissan, to send production and jobs overseas.
The Leaf, which started being delivered late last year, replaces the March subcompact whose production was moved to Thailand — the first case of a mass-selling model from a major automaker being produced overseas and then being imported back for sale in Japan.