Boardwalk Nissan

Originally, Nissan had planned to bring LEAF production to the U.S. in December 2012 with manufacturing of the lithium-ion battery fitted in the Nissan LEAF starting in September 2012. Unfortunately, the March 11 earthquake has dealt the company a heftier blow than anyone realized. It does not, then, come as a huge surprise that Nissan may be forced to delay U.S. production of the LEAF.

"On March 11 every operation stopped, so all…

As fear mounts over possible radioactive contamination from Japan's severely compromised Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, automakers have been trying to reassure car buyers that their vehicles will remain unaffected. The most common assurance offered is that autos are manufactured far enough away from the facility that fallout won't end up on their vehicles.

Nissan, however, is offering consumers more than just words. As an added step to ensure safety, the Japanese automaker…