Nissan Boasts 20 Percent of Leaf's Production Sold Out

Nissan has announced that buyers of its all-electric Leaf, have already reserved more than 20 percent of the first year's production. According to automaker, about 6,600 U.S. customers, and 3.700 in Japan have paid the $99 reservation fee. Nissan will build about 50,000 Leaf cars the first year. The automaker has said it wants to have about 40 percent of production reserved by December, when the car goes on sale.

Nissan began taking reservations for the Leaf on Tuesday.

The all-electric hatchback is priced at $32,780. But a federal tax credit of $7,500 for electric vehicles, coupled with tax credits from some individual states will help reduce the price to at least $25,280.

Nissan said that about 75 percent of its U.S. reservations are for the higher-end SL model, and about the same percentage is from what the automaker calls its primary launch markets: Tennessee — the U.S. Headquarters of Nissan — as well as Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona.

Acura Recalls the ZDX

American Honda Motor Co., Inc., has announced a recall of approximately 1,850 Acura ZDX vehicles to inspect the inside of the dashboard surface material. On affected vehicles, the passenger side airbag of the 2010 ZDX will not deploy properly.

While no incidents have been reported, a manufacturing quality check revealed that some vehicles do not have the necessary laser-cut scoring on the underside of the dashboard surface material. Without proper scoring, the passenger side frontal airbag will not deploy properly. After dealer inspection, if a ZDX is determined to have a dashboard without the proper scoring, the dashboard will be replaced.

Owners of affected vehicles will be informed by mail later this month. In addition, for more information, ZDX owners owners may call (800) 382-2238 or visit  this website.