More evidence that Nissan is confident of all-electric Leaf's financial viability

Nissan Leaf – Click above for high-res image gallery

We've gotten random tidbits here and there about what will be in Chris Paine's upcoming movie, Revenge of the Electric Car, like what producer Jessie Deeter said last week. But what has Paine learned about the subjects in his film in all the years that he's been following them around? Automotive News asked Paine for his thoughts about three of the main people – Bob Lutz (General Motors), Elon Musk (Tesla Motors) and Carlos Ghosn (Nissan) – and Paine said something that should at least give a little more credence to the idea that Nissan will not be losing money on the Leaf electric car. Paine said:
He's [Ghosn is] about the money. He's about the spreadsheet. If they're not going to make money on it, he wouldn't be in the game.
We've heard this before, but Paine has been behind the scenes in a way we can only envy. He told AN he had:
enough access that I'm not supposed to talk specifics until 2011. We spent a lot of time behind the scenes with these guys. It was a tentative relationship at times -- do they really want us here? We've had our issues with GM, obviously.
So, is this enough to quiet the haters? Probably not, but Paine's seen a lot and no one thinks he's carrying water for Nissan, so can we agree that it's at least likely that the Leaf's $32,780 price is enough for Nissan to go into the black on the project?


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[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

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