CROSS country skiing, pickled herring and the extreme brand of ear bleeding hard rock known as black metal are all big in Norway.

You can add to that list electric vehicles – in particular the Nissan Leaf, which was the third-best selling car in the Scandinavian kingdom last year.

A determination by Norwegians to protect their stunning landscape from noxious fumes, backed by a host of recessionbusting government incentives, have combined to make the Leaf a much more common sight on the streets of Oslo than it is in Sunderland, where it has been made since last spring.

High subsidies, free parking and recharging points, avoidance of road tolls and use of bus lanes to avoid queues in commuting have ensured its popularity in Norway’s capital city.

Car makers strive to produce head-turning vehicles that demand attention on the road. The Leaf is that kind of car, but in the UK it attracts attention more for its scarcity value than for its aesthetic appeal.

The Northern Echo:

In the 12 months since David Cameron marked the official start of Leaf production in the North-East, 13,000 have rolled off the production line.

Nissan stubbornly refused to set targets for how many it expected to make or to sell when it chose Sunderland to be the centre of European Leaf production.

“We will make as many as the market demands”

has been the frustratingly vague mantra repeated by Nissan chiefs.

Their cagey words are a far cry from the prediction a couple of years ago by chief executive Carlos Ghosn that Nissan, and partner company Renault, would sell about 1.5 million electric cars between them by 2016.

In a climb down in December last year, Mr Ghosn warned that global sales of greener vehicles were four years behind expectations.

He blamed a lack of infrastructure, such as charging points, for holding back increased sales. “I would not buy a petrol car if there were no petrol stations,” said the Brazilborn boss.

Investment in Leaf has been considerable. Some industry experts believe it has been an expensive gamble that could take decades to pay back.

Nissan spent £420m to equip the Sunderland production line and an adjacent battery plant so that it can produce 50,000 of the family hatchbacks a year, employing up to 560 workers. It also makes the model in its Japan and US plants.

The Northern Echo:

SPARKING A DEBATE: Prime Minister David Cameron talks to production supervisor Paul Kerry as they look at a battery used to power the Nissan Leaf electric car during a visit to the Nissan Plant, Sunderland

Sales globally recently topped 100,000, but when you consider that the Sunderland plant alone makes more than 500,000 cars a year it is clear that the general public – our Scandinavian cousins aside – have failed to be convinced that electric cars are the way forward.

Dr Colin Herron, a low carbon vehicle specialist and managing director of the UK’s largest vehicle recharging network, believes that to try to measure Leaf’s impact in terms of sales and production output alone is to misunderstand its wider impact.

“Leaf is a stepping stone to a new revolution in technology, and the North- East is at the heart of it,” he said.

“In the past, Nissan was probably regarded as being safe, and a producer of mass-market runof- the mill cars.

“With Leaf, Nissan has said to the world, ‘We are leading this revolution’.

“It forced other manufacturers to really sit up and take notice. They have been talking about doing something, but Nissan had the courage of its convictions and did it. It was a very bold move, and it is great to see that our region is playing such a fundamental part.”

In Dr Herron’s view, the money spent on Leaf has been part of Nissan’s bid to reposition itself as an innovator of breakthrough technologies, which will see it play a key role in the d e - velopment of the next generation of motoring – driverless cars. One measure of the Leaf’s success is that the people who buy one end up loving it. From its own customer satisfaction surveys, the Japanese company has found that Leaf is the most popular vehicle in its entire range – surpassing even the hugely popular Qashqai.

The Northern Echo:

Dr Colin Herron: “With Leaf, Nissan has said to the world, ‘We are leading this revolution’

“At the beginning we had the green, early adopters but now we are appealing to people who need more than just the satisfaction they have bought a zero emissions car,” explains Jean- Pierre Diernaz, director of EV (electric vehicles), Nissan Europe.

“You start to enter into the idea of buy a Leaf and you never need to go to the petrol station any more, and save yourself roughly 1,500 euros a year. “With the money you would save,” he told me, “You could treat your wife by taking her to New York,” said the Frenchman, who uses trademark motor trade hyperbole when he refers to the Leaf as “not merely a car, but a mobility solution”.

He adds: “The challenge now for us is that competition is coming in the EV market which we believe is very good because it will raise awareness.

“The Leaf buyers become advocates of the car – 85 per cent would recommend it to a friend and the majority say their next car will be electric,” added Mr Diernaz, who also remained tight - lipped about production and sales targets.

“I cannot give you a number,” he insisted .

“Year on year, we need to increase. It will double this year. I honestly don’t know if we will do that next year or even better. Today, we are pleased with what has been achieved.

“It is not like launching the new version of Qashqai, which is better than the last one with lots of refinements, so it is relatively simple to get people to buy one.

With Leaf you have to explain all of the benefits of driving a zero emissions car. It is more complex, it takes more time. But we manage it.

“To put it in context, it took Toyota twice as long with its hybrid vehicle to achieve 100,000 units globally than we did with Leaf.

It is a great asset for us having this car in Sunderland.”