THE pioneering achievements of Nissan's Sunderland plant were the hottest industrial story in Europe yesterday.

More than 60 journalists from as far afield as Russia and the Czech Republic arrived on Wearside to see history being made. France, Italy and Spain had dispatched correspondents and there was even a delegation from Europe's manufacturing powerhouse Germany.

This was an extraordinary day to cover regional business news. That much was clear when I signed in at Nissan's reception and noted that the journalist who'd arrived before me was called Xavier Champagne - a suitably exotic and celebratory moniker for a day when North-East engineering took centre stage.

Three coaches, normally used by holidaymakers and football fans, had been laid on to ferry the press pack around the sprawling site. Nissan's trademark attention to detail went awry when our coach's onboard video screen stared playing WWII POW movie The Great Escape, which added a surreal twist to the day. "It takes about two hours to assemble a Leaf from start to finish," explained Kev Reah, a supervisor in the Quick Response team, who gave us a whistle stop tour around the floor. Workers have less than a minute to complete each task.

The Leaf is being built on the same production line as the popular Qashqai. For every nine Qashqais that roll off the line one Leaf is made.

Nissan is clearly taking no chances with the all-electric car and if demand is sluggish it will simply churn out more of its tried and tested model. We were then ushered into a makeshift auditorium on the factory floor.

A video that explained the history of Nissan's electric vehicles played intercut with video clips of Madonna and David Bowie.

Then from stage left the Prime Minister arrived in the passenger seat of a new Leaf as he was driven into the press conference. Wall panels fell away and the PM delivered his speech in front of a backdrop of workers on the assembly line.

It was pure industrial theatre. An unforgettable image on a day which showcased one of the region's enduring business success stories.