Nissan Predicts Surge in U.S. Sales of Leaf

Nissan Motor Co.'s sales of the Leaf electric car will start to grow "dramatically" in the U.S. in September when the company begins making the hatchback in its Smyrna, Tenn., factory, says CEO Carlos Ghosn.

Ghosn tells cable television business channel CNBC that the yen's continuing strength against the dollar will make the U.S.-built Leaf less expensive than the $32,800 version Nissan currently builds in Japan. The company sold about 9,700 Leafs in the U.S. last year, shy of its 10,000-unit annual goal. It sold slightly more than 1,700 units in the first quarter of 2012 despite surging gasoline prices.

Separately, Ghosn says Nissan plans to move some production of its Infiniti luxury vehicles outside Japan probably to North America or China to escape the yen's pressure.