Nissan: 2011 LEAF Will Reach Full Production By March

By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

Contributing Writer BIO

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield is a self-confessed petrol head. She grew up in a carless family but was able at a very early age to name cars passing her on... More

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2011 Nissan Leaf

Taken in Lisbon, Portugal. Pre-Production Test.

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If you’re one of the many thousands of would-be Nissan LEAF customers that have had their orders delayed due to a surprising lack of cars then you’ll be pleased to hear that Nissan has a plan to remedy the backlog.

So far, around 3,000 LEAFs have been built at Nissan’s Oppama factory. Until additional production lines in Smyrna, Tennessee and Sunderland, U.K. are brought on line, this single factory will continue to be responsible for matching global demand for the all-electric family hatchback.  

So how will Nissan bring production up to speed in order to satisfy the overwhelming demand for their first production electric vehicle? 

By adding extra shifts to the production schedule. 

Increasing the production to include overtime and holidays, Nissan hopes that by the end of March it will be producing around 4,000 cars per month. 

That would result in around 10,000 vehicles being made by the start of April, going a long way to addressing the global backlog of cars. 

In fact, Nissan Americas Chief Carlos Tavares said earlier this month that Nissan would deliver all 20,000 reserved cars in the U.S. by September. 

But with key markets in Europe set to roll out in the next few months, Nissan may find demand still outstrips production. 

Have you ordered a 2011 NIssan LEAF? Do you have yours yet, or are you one of the many hopeful customers still waiting for a delivery date. We’re keen to hear just how quickly Nissan’s promise to ramp up production affects delivery volumes across the U.S. 

[Nissan] via [Reuters]