Sunderland Qashqai deal worth £30billion to North East

The Japanese car giant announced this week that its Sunderland plant is to make two new models - a third version of the best-selling Qashqai and, for the first time, the 4x4 X-Trail.

The announcement secures the future of the plant for up to ten years - with Nissan’s presence in the North East said to be worth an estimated £2.8billion a year to the region’s economy.

Around 7,000 people work at the factory itself, while the local supply chain employs around three times as many.

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show each of the 30,000 or so jobs supported either directly or indirectly by Nissan in the North East is worth £94,500 a year to the regional economy in gross value added - the measure of all the economic activity they support.

Expert Tooling is typical of the companies across the North East which are supported by the continued success of the Nissan plant.

The Sunderland Echo Portfolio Business of the Year 2015 winner employs more than 60 people at its new plant in Rainton Bridge and has worked with global automotive giants including Jaguar Landrover, Mini, Aston Martin, McLaren, Rolls Royce, Bentley, as well as Nissan.

Operations director Dave Bartell said the economic impact of Wednesday’s announcement would be felt much further afield than Wearside: “Nissan’s vote of confidence in Sunderland is great news for the automotive sector, but also the region as a whole,” said Mr Bartell.

“It’s a real thumbs up to the dedicated skilled workforce we have here in the region. Sunderland is really showing the sector how it should be done.

“We must also give huge credit to the senior management team at Nissan for not only pulling off the deal to produce the new Qashqai model, but also the introduction of X Trial - a truly remarkable achievement and one we should be very proud of here in Sunderland.”