Japan's Nissan Motor Co will begin building the Leaf electric compact car at its Sunderland plant from early 2013, making Britain its third global production site for the zero-emission vehicle.

Nissan, Japan's No.3 automaker held 44 per cent by Renault SA, had already announced plans to make batteries for the electric cars in Sunderland, but had been considering several sites for European production of the car itself.

Nissan said in a statement last Thursday that the Sunderland site would start with annual production capacity of 50,000 Leaf cars.

Carmakers worldwide are investing large sums in electric vehicles as they seek to meet ever-tighter regulations for emissions and struggle to pull themselves out of a savage industry downturn.

Nissan and Renault are by far the most aggressive proponents of electric vehicle technology among major automakers, together investing around €4 billion in electric vehicle projects and committing to production capacity so far of 500,000 zero-emission cars a year.

Nissan has already announced production of the all-electric Leaf hatchback first at its Oppama plant in Japan from this year and at its Smyrna, Tennessee, factory in the US from 2012. The car is due to go on sale in Japan, the US and some European markets at the end of this year, ahead of a full-scale global rollout in 2012.

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