Nissan has today announced a new generation Nissan Juke is slated for production in the UK,
Future Juke production suggests a secure future for both assembly lines in Sunderland and the jobs of 34,000 people currently employed by Nissan and its British suppliers beyond 2020.
According to the automotive manufacturer, the estimated £100m investment is a further endorsement of the quality of output from the Sunderland plant, and a statement of Nissan’s intention to remain the “undisputed crossover leader”.
Joining colleagues in Sunderland today to celebrate the announcement, Nissan Europe chairman, Paul Willcox commented: “The Juke’s unique design is one of the reasons Nissan is now the undisputed crossover leader, underpinning five consecutive years of sales growth in Europe.
“This announcement also gives security to our Sunderland plant beyond 2020, which the team has earned through many years of hard work and their ability to continually raise the bar on quality.”
Giving a further boost to the UK automotive sector, Nissan’s European design team in Paddington, London, and European Engineering Headquarters in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, will reportedly be instrumental in the development of this new model – ensuring European customer needs and taste are incorporated into the second generation Juke.
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Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne said: “It’s fantastic news that Nissan will be building their new car here in Sunderland and securing valuable jobs for thousands of working people in the area.
“Our ambitious plan to build the Northern Powerhouse means building on the area’s strengths – including manufacturing – and this announcement is an important sign of Britain being chosen as a global leader in car production.”
Nissan’s second best-selling car in Europe, Juke has been a success for the company since its launch in 2010 on Nissan’s Line two in Sunderland.
Its popularity has led to the Sunderland plant achieving 500,000 volumes in each of the past three years – making it the largest carmaker in the history of UK automotive – with 80% of output exported to more than 130 markets.
Current models also include the Nissan Note and the all-electric Nissan LEAF, with production of the Infiniti Q30 due to begin later this year.
Additionally and also made in Sunderland, the Juke NISMO RS is the performance version of the popular crossover, with years of racetrack heritage taken from the enigmatic NISMO brand, “marrying the Juke with impressive power credentials, aggressive styling and optimum handling capabilities”.
Nissan employs nearly 8,000 people in its UK design, engineering, sales and manufacturing operations, supporting an additional 27,000 jobs in the UK supply chain alongside 3,900 in dealerships.
The Manufacturer Top 100 judge and automotive lead at the Business Growth Service, Rachel Eade commented: “[This] is great news for the North East and reinforces the ongoing investment in skills and capacity improvements across the UK automotive supply chain…all gearing towards securing long-term investment and continued increases in volume production.
“The deal is positive for the domestic sector as a whole, as we have many auto suppliers across the country who design and manufacture components that go into the various Nissan models. With the strength of the pound causing some concern, it is definitely a shot in the arm for the global reputation of our world class engineering and manufacturing skills.”
