Sunderland to build Nissan’s Qashqai+2

Apr 8 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

THE next generation of Nissan’s multi-award- winning 4x4 Qashqai will be built at Sunderland, the car giant has announced.

The company, which said in February that 800 jobs were being created at the plant with the addition of a third shift in June, will show off the new seven-seater Qashqai+2 at the London Motor Show in July. It will go on sale in October, aiming for a slice of the lucrative family car market.

The success of the original Qashqai and the knowledge that the new model would be awarded to the Sunderland plant was behind the Japanese company’s decision to boost its number of employees in the North East.

Nissan Europe’s Simon Thomas said: “The arrival of the Qashqai+2 will broaden the appeal of the range still further, so the third shift at Sunderland is absolutely vital if we are to keep up with the high demand for the model.”

The Sunderland plant made a record 353,000 vehicles last year. Production of Qashqais destined for export to Japan was transferred to one of Nissan’s Japanese factories in January to create extra space for production for the European market.

The original Qashqai became Nissan’s most successful vehicle launch when it went on sale in March last year. It has sold almost 25,000 in the UK alone and has won 15 automotive awards in Europe.