Nissan ‘could build two new Renault models in Sunderland’ reports claim

The Financial Times (FT) says the Japanese car giant is considering moving the manufacture of two Renault models from Spain to the UK, in what would be a major boost for the Wearside workforce.

The Japanese carmaker is said to be considering transferring production of the Kadjar and Captur SUVs to Britain, allowing it to close its Barcelona factory.

Renault owns just over 40% of Nissan's shares, and the two companies operate a strategic alliance of their respective production facilities.

Other vehicles manufactured at the site would be moved to Nissan's factories in South Africa and Renault's plant at Maubeuge in France.

If such a move were to go ahead, it would secure thousands of jobs at the Japanese carmaker's Sunderland site, which employs more than 6,000 people, as well as in the factory’s supply chain, much of which is based locally.

The firm announced almost a year ago that it was planning to cut 12,500 jobs globally as it looked to reduced capacity by 10 per cent – but there was no word at the time on where the axe was set to fall.

Rumours of major job cuts were confirmed when the company announced its financial results for the first quarter of the year in July, which saw net income almost wiped out.

A spokesman for Nissan said: "We do not comment on speculation."

The Sunderland plant is the UK's largest car factory.

It closed in April as part of the coronavirus lockdown, although a small number of workers in the engine department have since returned. The firm has not yet announced when the plant will reopen.

Commentators have said the move would be taken as a sign of Nissan's long-term commitment to the UK despite its anxiety over tariffs with Europe post-Brexit.

The plans were due to be announced by Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida as part of a strategy overhaul of its European operations, the FT reported.

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