Nissan confirms it will move X-Trail production plans from Sunderland to Japan
Carmaker Nissan has confirmed it is ditching plans to build its new fleet of SUVs in Sunderland in favour of producing them at a Japanese plant amid continued uncertainty around Brexit.
In 2016 Nissan announced it would produce its next generation SUV, the X-Trail, in Sunderland to sell to the European market.
The carmaker confirmed today that production would now take place as its Kyushu plant in Japan. Nissan said Japan was the "production hub" for the X-Trail model but that plans to build the Juke and Qashaqi models in Sunderland would not be affected.
A number of politicians immediately blamed Brexit for the decision. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1092052311579521024
Read more: Nissan to cancel X-Trail production plans in latest car industry setback
Lib Dem leader and former Business secretary Vince Cable said the pulling of production was a "massive psychological as well as an economic blow for the north east".
Business secretary Greg Clark said that while the announcement was a "blow to the sector and region", no jobs would be lost. He added that the government was "determined" that the UK would lead the way in electric and autonomous vehicles.
Nissan Europe chairman Gianluca de Ficchy said: "Nissan is investing heavily in new technologies and powertrains for the next generation of vehicles in our Sunderland plant. To support this we are taking advantage of our global assets, and with X-Trail already manufactured in Japan, we can reduce our upfront investment costs.
"We appreciate this will be disappointing for our UK team and partners. Our workforce in Sunderland has our full confidence, and will continue to benefit from the investment planned for Juke and Qashqai.
"While we have taken this decision for business reasons, the continued uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future."
Earlier this week the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) warned against the "devastation" of a no-deal Brexit, as it announced that UK car production fell to a six year low of 1.52m units last year, while investment was slashed almost in half to just £589m.