Nissan reveals electric car plans for Sunderland plant

Mar 18 2010 By Adrian Pearson, The Journal

NISSAN is today set to safeguard thousands of jobs by announcing plans to manufacture its new electric car in the North East.

The car producer will this morning reveal it has chosen its Wearside factory to build the Leaf vehicle.

The decision follows huge, behind the scenes efforts to place the North East at the centre of the low carbon industry.

High ranking ministers will today travel to Nissan’s Washington plant and reveal their support. At the same time, Nissan’s top chiefs will fly into London and unveil further details.

The move represents the culmination of two years’ work in which Nissan has been transformed from a manufacturer forced to make redundancies to one whose investment underpins thousands of North East jobs.

The Sunderland-built Leaf car will have a top speed of over 90mph, a 100-mile range and a dedicated dashboard navigation system showing its range on remaining battery levels.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said last night: "Nissan’s commitment to Sunderland is a massive vote of confidence in the workforce and to manufacturing in the United Kingdom.

"Nissan’s initiatives, and support from the Government, show that by working together we can achieve our aim of making the UK a world-leader in ultra-low carbon vehicle production." Last night regional minister Nick Brown said he was confident today’s announcement at the Sunderland plant would safeguard a generation of jobs.

He added: "Nissan is the UK’s largest car manufacture and has been for the last 12 years. It has been the UK’s largest car exporter for the last 10 years.

"I am confident that we can build on this success with a whole new product and industry."

The Japanese manufacturer paved the way for the decision back in July when plans to build a £200m electric battery plant were unveiled.

As a result of the 350 job investment, the Government declared the North East its first low carbon economic area.

And One North East has helped secure more than £20m for electric charging points cross the region. Nick Brown said: "Winning the battery factory for Sunderland was a great achievement. The neighbouring Nissan car plant is the most productive car plant in Europe. It is highly regarded within the Nissan international family of factories.

"It employs 4000 people and was very well placed to win the contest to build Nissan’s new electric car."

It is understood that the Government has also offered a multi-million pound package of support to help the factory adjust to the changes needed to produce the new Leaf car.

Gateshead East and Washington West MP Sharon Hodgson said: "This is wonderful news for Washington and Sunderland.

"We’ve been leading the way for a while when it comes to low-carbon vehicle manufacture. I am delighted that this announcement will cement our reputation as a global hotspot for these technologies.

"This just goes to show we can bounce back stronger from the recession and get thousands of people back to work."

Responding to the impending announcement about the Leaf, James Ramsbotham, chief executive at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: "We are hugely excited about anything which creates long-term employment in the North East, particularly when it builds on our growing skills and expertise in the low carbon economy."