Nissan has announced plans to build a new model at its Sunderland plant, safeguarding 1000 jobs and creating an additional 200. Nissan’s new car, based on the Qashqai concept vehicle, was styled and designed in the UK and will be put into production in 2007.
The announcement came just four months after the company said it would be producing the new Tone at its UK plant, which will go into production in 2006. The two new models will be made alongside the Micra, Micra C+C and the Primera and will increase annual production at Europe’s most efficient car plant to around 400,000 units.
The Qashqai was styled and developed in the UK, and was the first car to be designed at Nissan Design Europe in Paddington, London.
The new plans are part of a total UK investment at Nissan of £223 million, including £5 million of Regional Selective Assistance awarded by the department of trade and industry. Trade and industry secretary, Patricia Hewitt MP, said the announcement ‘demonstrates why the UK remains the preferred location in Europe for automotive investment and why the UK continues to be at the forefront of advanced vehicle design and technologies.’
