The news which boosted Wearside 40 years ago

It’s on! Phase two of the Nissan factory will go ahead.

That was the news which greeted the people of Sunderland 40 years ago, that Nissan was bringing around 3,000 extra jobs, and possibly many more, to Wearside

Inside Nissan in Sunderland after it first opened in 1986. | se

placeholder image — Inside Nissan in Sunderland after it first opened in 1986. | se

Company president Yutaka Kume broke the news at the official opening of the factory in 1986.

He ended months of speculation when he told guests and workers that the Washington plant would expand to produce 100,000 cars a year by 1991.

A Sunderland Echo report at the time said: “The announcement means Wearside has gained the glittering industrial prize it was seeking - a major provider of jobs and a dynamic new enterprise.”

Mr Kume, who was based in Tokyo, said in 1986: “We have become increasingly confident about the prospect of expanding.

The Nissan Bluebird, on show in The Galleries. Nissan arrived on Wearside in 1984 and began producing the Bluebird in 1986. | se

“Over the past month we have carefully examined the possibilities open to us and I am pleased to formally announce that we have reached agreements with Her Majesty’s Government to expand production in Sunderland, and in doing so we will create many more jobs in this area.”

He said local content of the cars was expected to soar to 80 per cent by 1990-91. He called on dealers to make an all out effort to boost sales.

The factory first opened a little over two years earlier. On Friday, March 30, 1984, the news we had hoped for finally arrived: Nissan was coming to Sunderland.

Nissan employs around 6,000 people at its factory in Sunderland (Ian Forsyth/PA) | Ian Forsyth/PA

Three years after the Japanese giant had first said it was heading to the UK, Nissan confirmed that it would build a factory on the site of Sunderland Airport.

The sheer scale of it was enormous. The first phase alone would see £50million investment, 24,000 cars built a year and 500 workers taken on.

The first cars would be built from kits imported from Japan and, if the second phase was approved, it would see cars built from a majority of British components.

That reality took shape in 1986 and we want to hear from you if you were one of the first people to work at Nissan when it opened.

Tell us more by emailing [email protected]