Sunderland, England – Nissan has announced that its upcoming Leaf electric vehicle will be manufactured at its plant in Sunderland in the U.K., along with production in Japan and Tennessee.

Construction of an advanced lithium-ion battery plant in Sunderland, announced last year, will begin this April. The facility will have a production capacity of 60,000 units per year and will start manufacturing batteries in 2012 for Nissan and Renault.

“This investment is a fantastic vote of confidence in the Sunderland plant and its excellent workforce,” said U.K. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. “The automotive sector is of key importance to the U.K. It supports R&D, technological innovation, skills and a supply chain that’s a mainstay of the wider manufacturing sector. Today’s news from Nissan, with support from government, shows that by working together, we can achieve our aim of making the U.K. a world leader in ultra-low carbon vehicles.”

Production of the Leaf will begin in Oppama, Japan later this year, followed by Smyrna, Tennessee in 2012. Sunderland will begin production in early 2013, with an initial production capacity of about 50,000 vehicles per year.

The three production sites will support the sales launch of the vehicle, which begins in late 2010 in Japan, the U.S. and select European markets. Global mass marketing will commence from 2012.

Sunderland will build the Leaf alongside the recently unveiled Juke compact crossover, which enters production in August 2010. The plant currently produces the Qashqai, Qashqui +2, Note and Micra.

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