By bizn_fun 
Nissan Sunderland’s vice president of manufacturing Adam Pennick said: “There is huge pride and excitement in our team to be building this brilliant car in Sunderland.”
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said the North East’s automotive sector would receive £50m in new funding, secured from the government.
She added the start of the new Leaf production was a “landmark day for our car industry”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the party would abandon plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 if it won the next election.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the Tory leader described electric vehicle quotas as “economic self-harm”.
The column followed Mrs Badenoch’s meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has lobbied the EU to water down its plans to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035.