(May 1, 2010) Nissan said on Thursday it is on track to book 25,000 U.S. orders for its Leaf electric vehicle by the end of the year and the automaker will be making money on the green car.

Nissan has taken 8,000 U.S. reservations for the hatchback, set to go on sale in the United States in December, since it started taking orders nine days ago, Mark Perry, Nissan's North America director of product planning and strategy, told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference.

"We are on a double time march (for launch)," Perry said. "We are on our way to have 25,000 firm orders by December."

Nissan's U.S. launch of the car will start in California, Arizona, Washington, Tennessee and Oregon. The automaker also is launching the car in Japan and Europe in late 2010.

Production of the Leaf will start in Japan and later at plants in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Leaf sales will be capacity restrained in the first two years until the U.S. plant comes on line, Perry said.

The five-passenger car will be the first fully electric car launched by a major automaker. It is designed to provide a 100 mile range on a full charge and is priced at $32,780 -- not including federal tax credits or other incentives.