Nissan will close one of its two production lines at its Sunderland plant as part of a cost-cutting exercise that will see the Japanese maker eliminate 900 positions in Europe.
The plant builds the new electric Leaf, the Juke and the Qashqai, and all will now run down the same line. Nissan confirmed that no jobs at the plant would be lost as a result of the move.
The closure of the line marks the decline of production numbers at Nissan’s sole European plant. The factory built 273,174 cars last year, down from a previous high of over half a million.
Nissan said in a statement that it was taking measures “to create a leaner, more resilient business that adapts quickly to market changes”. Measures under review include the partial closer of its Barcelona parts warehouse and a move to an importer model in Nordic countries.
Nissan is hoping to attract a second carmaker to take over line one in the future, with Chinese makers Chery and Dongfeng both linked to production at the site.
This is a breaking news story and that will be updated
Join the debate
Add your comment
The only surprise here is it's taken them this long.
I'd have expected UK jobs to disapear too, it seems crazy you can merge two production lines and not loose any jobs.
I'll also open a can of worms by mentioning the B word. I'm not suggesting Brexit played any part in Nissans decision, but what I will do is remind those who said Brexit would be the end of the UK car industry that they were simply scaremongering.
China has given all European manufacturers a massive headache and a much needed kick up the backside. What we're hearing so far with Nissan is that British jobs will be unaffected whilst 900 jobs in the EU will disappear. In otherwords, those remainers couldn't have been more wrong if they tried about the effects of Brexit on the UK car industry.
Check your specs !, fiur five lines in it says......?
.
Agreed, but the headline being wrong and no proof reading by the writer or editorial team on this magazine is what my comment is about.