Nissan: Sunderland plant still under threat from no-deal Brexit
Nissan’s Sunderland plant will be “unsustainable” if the UK leaves the EU without a trade deal, the car manufacturer has said.
Global chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta said the EU was the factory’s biggest customer and Nissan could not maintain its commitment if there were no tariff-free access to the trade bloc.
The Japanese car maker has invested billions in the site, which is the UK’s largest car manufacturer plant, employing 7,000 workers.
“You know we are the number one carmaker in the UK and we want to continue. We are committed,” Gupta told the BBC.
“Having said that, if we are not getting the current tariffs, it’s not our intention but the business will not be sustainable. That’s what everybody has to understand.”
The comments cast fresh doubt on the Sunderland plant’s future just a week after Nissan said it would save its British factory as part of a radical restructuring plan.
The firm instead said it would close its factory in Barcelona, resulting in the loss of about 2,800 jobs.
The restructuring will also see Renault — part of a three-way alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi — take the European lead for the companies’ manufacturing in Europe.
The announcement sparked hopes that Renault, which is 15 per cent owned by the French government — would take the estimated 20 per cent spare capacity at the Sunderland plant.
But the French firm poured cold water on the suggestion, saying it had no current plans to move into the UK.
Nissan’s Gupta said the decision would be a matter for the French car manufacturer.
“When it comes to the allocation of manufacturing, each company will take the decision based on the competitiveness of the plants,” he said.