Nissan Leaf to be available UK-wide by end of 2013

Come the end of 2013, all Nissan dealers the UK will be required to both sell and service the Japanese automaker's plug-in Leaf. Currently, there are approximately 26 dealers equipped to sell the Leaf in the UK, but Nissan says that will change dramatically once Leaf production gets underway in local Sunderland. Jim Wright, managing director of Nissan Motor UK, stated:

By 2013, we want 100 percent [of UK dealerships] to be selling the Leaf. By then, we'll have some form of critical mass in terms of infrastructure and availability of product. With Sunderland production starting in 2013, the tap will be turned on.

Nissan says that in the UK alone, Leaf sales have exceed 700, with the year-end total expected to reach 1,500 units. As for now, Nissan's Oppama facility in Japan can only pump out a limited amount of Leafs, but with the automaker's Sunderland and Smyrna, TN sites coming online soon, that tap is indeed about to open wide.