Nissan restarts Oppama plant; Leafs rolling down the line once again

Nissan has restarted production at its Oppama, Japan plant. For the first time since the tremendous quake rattled Japan on March 11th, the lines at the Oppama facility are rolling and Nissan Leafs are trickling out of the plant's doors. As the sole production site for the Leaf – at least until Nissan's plants in Smyrna, TN and Sunderland, UK come online in 2012 – the Oppama facility has handled assembly of all of the 5,000-plus Leafs made so far.

Nissan executives have told reporters in Japan that overall production at the Oppama facility will gradually return to pre-quake levels, perhaps hitting peak output by July. Since the Oppama plant is around 200 miles southwest of the quake's epicenter, it suffered only minor damage.

In related news, Katherine Zachary told Green Car Advisor that 600 Leafs, which arrived in the Port of Long Beach earlier this week, should be hitting dealerships in the U.S. any day now.

[Source: Green Car Advisor]