YOKOHAMA, Japan: Nissan Motor Co took the wraps off its much-awaited electric car yesterday, naming the hatchback "Leaf" and taking a step towards its goal of leading the industry in the zero-emissions field.

Japan's No.3 automaker and its French partner, Renault SA, have been the most aggressive proponents of pure electric vehicles in the auto industry, announcing plans to mass-market the clean but expensive cars globally in 2012.

Nissan will begin selling the first Leaf cars in the United States, Europe and Japan in the latter half of next year, adding two more models soon after. It expects production to start with around 200,000 units a year at the global roll-out in 2012.