You can tell a great deal about a company from the men at the top. And for the car lovers amongst us, that’s reassuring when it comes to Nissan: they are ‘car guys.’

For example, when the company’s chief operating officer, Toshiyuki Shiga, arrived at the Nissan 360 media event in Southern California recently, he was as keen as the invited journalists to try one rather special Nissan model: the LEAF Nismo RC.

He took it for a few quick laps around a special circuit created for the event… and couldn’t stop smiling. “The core requirement of a car manufacturer is to provide driving pleasure and cars that are fun to drive. Even if the car is electric I think it is very important that it provides the same sense of fun.”