Sunderland jobs secured by new Nissan model

Nissan Motor Manufacturing in Sunderland has fought off stiff competition, with a little help from a £5 million government grant, to secure production of a new Nissan vehicle at the site.

The Goverment's £5 million Regional Selective Assistance package helped secure the production of a new model, and safeguard 1,000 automotive jobs, at the Nissan plant in Sunderland. The grant will support the development and manufacture of a new compact-crossover vehicle, the P32L.

During a visit to the Sunderland Nissan plant the Trade and Industry Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, said: "I am delighted to announce the offer of £5 million of Regional Selective Assistance to help Nissan develop this crucially important model.

"Today's announcement marks an important development for Nissan and is great news for Sunderland, safeguarding over 1,000 jobs here and countless others in the supply chain.

"Nissan's continued investment in the skills of its workforce has helped the company boost its productivity and remain globally competitive. This is demonstrated by the fact that Sunderland has been the most productive car plant in Europe for the past seven years, and is a real testament to their workforce and the company's all-round capabilities.

"Today's 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."

Over the past 20 years Nissan has created 4,500 jobs at the Wearside plant and helped create a further 7,000 jobs in the wider North East of England supply chain.

The first vehicle was produced at Sunderland in 1986 and last year the plant produced 320,000, Almera, Primera and Micra cars, of which almost 80% were exported.

Sunderland won the latest work in the face of stiff competition from Nissan facilities in France.

(SP)