Norway electric car maker Think plans U.S. plant

OSLO, March 12 (Reuters) - Norwegian electric car maker Think aims to open a manufacturing plant in the United States to produce 16,000 cars per year in the first phase and more later, the company said on Thursday.

"U.S. production is expected to start in 2010," Think said in a statement, estimating first-year volume at 2,500 units.

The company is in talks with eight states, including Michigan, on a site for the facility that would initially employ about 300 workers to build its TH!NK city car, Think said.

A technical centre in conjuction with the plant would provide jobs for another 70 engineers and electric drive specialists, it said.

"Plans ultimately call for up to 900 employees and a capacity of 60,000 electric vehicles per year," said the company which currently operates a production facility near Oslo in Norway with a capacity of 16,000 units per year.

The United States is overtaking Europe as an attractive market for electric vehicles and is an ideal location to engineer and build them, Think Chief Executive Richard Canny said in the statement.

"We see ourselves playing a small but potentially growing role in re-inventing the U.S. auto industry by bringing back new manufacturing jobs to the U.S. to replace internal combustion engine vehicles that are expensive to operate and maintain with clean, efficient electric vehicles," he said.

Think, which is owned by private equity group Novus Energy Partners, aims to apply for low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy for developing U.S. production of fuel-efficient vehicles, the company said. (Reporting by John Acher; Editing by David Cowell)