Sunderland's Nissan plant confirmed as SAFE as firm reveals closure of Barcelona site

The future of the Sunderland plant – which produces cars such as the Qashqai, Leaf and Juke – has been uncertain for some time, but fresh confirmation by Nissan during its Transformation Plan has confirmed that the Japanese car maker sees the site as a core part of its European presence.

Reports suggest the closure of the Nissan plant in Barcelona, Spain, will result in the loss of about 2,800 jobs.

While Nissan has today, Thursday, May 28, said Sunderland remains an ‘important part’ of the manufacturing company’s European business.

Stephen Ma, Nissan CFO, said that “In western Europe, we will maintain production of core models in Sunderland and maintain efficiency.”

Nissan has also showcased plans to utilise its relationship with other alliance members Renault and Mitsubishi to help grow the business.

This could potentially see Renault models built in Sunderland, though this is yet to be confirmed.

A spokesman for Nissan said: “Europe will remain an important part of Nissan’s global business. We have more than three decades of history in Europe, where Nissan created the crossover segment and took the lead in the rollout of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.

“As the new Nissan Mid Term Plan explains, the company will be focusing on core models and technologies, which in Europe is our range of crossovers and electrified technologies.

“Sunderland remains an important part of our plans for the European business. The new Juke was recently launched, and the plant is now preparing for the arrival of the new Qashqai.”

Nissan has said it would now be focusing on reducing costs and bringing down the number of cars in its range, putting primary emphasis on electric vehicles, SUVs and crossovers – as well as sports cars – as it announced large losses for 2019.

The firm’s upcoming Ariya SUV, which it sees as a future core model for Europe, would be fully revealed in July.

It did, however, confirm its commitment to Europe, stating that the market remains ‘important’ to the brand.

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