Nissan is to cut its Sunderland plant workforce by 30 per cent in a bid to scale back production, the company has announced.
Around 1200 jobs will go from the 3800-strong production staff. Part of the cuts will come from 400 temporary staff that will not have their contracts renewed, and Nissan hopes the remaining job losses will be achieved through voluntary redundancy.
The plant, which currently assembles the Nissan Micra, Qashqai and Qashqai+2, will reduce production until the end of March. It will operate three shifts on two lines, with one of the two cancelled shifts being reinstated in April.
The cutbacks come ahead of more changes for the Sunderland plant. Production of the Nissan Micra is to stop when the next model shifts to India, and a new ‘baby Qashqai’ will take its place midway through 2010.
The Sunderland site remains the UK’s largest car producer, turning out around 350,000 units per year.
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