Potentially affected vehicles were all built at the carmaker’s Smyrna, Tennessee plant between the 28th of February and 12th of March 2014, and Nissan said these could be missing welds in the front end which would affect crash safety and increase injury risk for occupants.

As a result, these cars fail to meet the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection," and 305, "Electric-Powered Vehicles: Electrolyte Spillage and Electrical Shock Protection", according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Owners will be notified to take their cars to dealers starting in mid June, and those with missing welds will have their cars replaced free of charge, the carmaker said. Models built outside the United States are unaffected.