Nissan will build a new car in the UK

By Mark Stevens
Nissan will build a new SUV in 2010 at its plant in Sunderland, England, the company said today after being granted 6.2 million pounds ($12 million) by the British government.
 
The new car will replace the small-segment Micra at the plant after its production cycle ends in 2010.
 
The Micra production will be shifted to a factory to be built in Chennai, India with majority owner Renault, Japan's No.3 automaker said.
 
The decision was announced following a visit by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to Nissan's European Design Centre in London, where he met Renault and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn.
 
Brown said in the statement: "Nissan is a global manufacturer with strong roots in Britain and I'm pleased to welcome Nissan's new investment in the UK.
 
Ghosn said, "By delivering on tough commitments, our employees at Sunderland have demonstrated our plant can be a globally competitive center for the production of high-value products.
 
Ghosn has for years lamented Britain's refusal to join the euro zone and recently stepped up that rhetoric after the pound fell 15 percent against the euro and yen over the last year. A weaker pound makes buying auto components outside Britain more expensive and deflates profits when brought back to Japan.
 
"By delivering on tough commitments, our employees at Sunderland have demonstrated our plant can be a globally competitive center for the production of high-value products,"Ghosn said in a statement.
 
In the business year to March 31, 2008, the Sunderland factory produced a record 374,076 Micras, Qashqai SUVs and Note small minivan, up 24 percent from the previous year.
 
Nissan sells about 80 percent of vehicles produced in Sunderland outside Britain, making it the country's biggest vehicle exporter. Together with its engine plant and other facilities, it employs about 4,700 workers in Sunderland.
 
Nissan said in January that it would add 800 staff and begin a third production shift in Sunderland in response to brisk demand for the Qashqai model. Under a business plan announced last month, Nissan had said it would source and build its new entry-level cars such as the small-segment Micra in five low-cost countries including India and Thailand.
From: Automotive News Europe

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