Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY, 7201.TO) is counting on its soon-to-be-launched Leaf electric car to create a new image for the company, which is traditionally viewed as the No. 3 Japanese auto maker behind Toyota Motor Corp. (TM, 7203.TO) and Honda Motor Co. (HMC, 7267.TO).

The Leaf, due to arrive in U.S. showrooms in next month, runs on an electric motor and a battery pack and is supposed to go 80 miles or more before needing a recharge.

Nissan is hoping the car will convince Americans that the company is a trend-setter and technology leader, and position the company as a step ahead of its Japanese rivals, said Carlos Tavares, who leads North and South America for Nissan.

"Customers don't always know what Nissan stands for," Tavares said in an interview Monday. "We want to be recognized for innovation, and the Leaf will be the flag" for the brand.

(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)

Nissan is known for making good cars, but with not quite the same level of reliability as Toyota and Honda. Toyota and Honda are also larger companies, selling more vehicles in the U.S. than Nissan.

The auto maker launched a massive brand campaign in August called "Innovation for All" and advertising spending is up 30% compared with a year earlier, Tavares said. The advertisements feature the Leaf and a new, funky small sport-utility vehicle called the Juke that offers a standard turbocharged engine.

Much like Toyota gets credit for starting the mass-adoption of hybrid vehicles with the Prius, Nissan would like to get credit for electric cars with the Leaf.

Nissan begins delivering the all-electric Leaf car to customers in the U.S. the week of Dec. 10 and has reservations from 20,000 customers for the car already. Nissan is the only auto maker that plans to mass-market electric cars and will almost certainly be the sales leader in the vehicles.

The Leaf is the centerpiece in Nissan's bet on electric cars. It is retrofitting a plant in Tennessee to build up to 150,000 of the vehicles, annually.

The auto maker also has spent much of the past 18 months traveling across the U.S. , talking to state and local governments to try to get them to build electric car-charging stations or other incentives to make it easier to introduce the vehicle.

Nissan's sales are up 16% this year and its market share has grown to 7.8% from 7.4% a year earlier through September, while Honda's and Toyota 's shares are both down.

Nissan, like its rivals, has been affected by the appreciating yen versus the dollar. Tavares said Nissan has accelerated efforts to move both auto production and parts suppliers to Mexico and Brazil to counteract the yen's strength.

He said the yen is likely to be a concern for the next five years.

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