Nissan plant keeps Japan jobs, sends green message

YOKOSUKA, Japan — The Leaf electric car is rolling down the bustling assembly line at Nissan's Oppama plant, taking the place of a gasoline engine compact whose production was moved abroad last year.

The Oppama plant in the Tokyo suburb of 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 Japanese automakers including Nissan to send production and jobs overseas.

The Leaf, which started being delivered in late 2010, replaces the March subcompact whose production was moved to Thailand last year — the first case of a mass-selling model from a major Japanese automaker being produced overseas and then being imported back for sale in Japan.

In the same way that Detroit has lost auto jobs in the last few decades, moving production abroad is a growing shift among Japanese automakers. They have felt more urgency to cut costs lately because of the surging yen, which makes Japan's exports more expensive overseas.

But Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga says it's important to keep auto production in Japan, even though it's easier to make short-term profits with overseas production.

He points out the Leaf, which sells for under 3 million yen ($36,000) with government subsidies in Japan, is worth about three times the March, ensuring more value for Japanese production.

The Leaf's suggested retail price including destination charge in the U.S. is $33,600. Some states offer incentives and rebates for the electric car, and a taxpayer can claim a $7,500 federal tax credit for purchasing a Leaf in the U.S.

"We cannot allow Japan's manufacturing prowess to be rotted away, just because of the high yen," Shiga told reporters earlier this week.

Models packed with new technology like the Leaf could be the answer.

The Oppama plant was still adjusting to producing the Leaf, which doesn't have a gasoline engine but needs different parts like a special battery and an electric motor.

The factory, which employs 1,860 workers and has added 225 temporary workers, is now making about 2,000 Leaf cars a month.

But Nissan is making efforts to boost that to more than 4,000 to reach 50,000 annual production at Oppama sometime this year, although Senior Vice President Toshiharu Sakai declined to say exactly when.