Nissan is to review the future of its Sunderland plant in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to reports.
The Financial Times claims “three people with knowledge of the matter” say the factory’s future would be reassessed if the UK reverts to World Trade Organisation rules after leaving the EU without a deal, potentially putting the plant’s future at risk.
• Nissan confirms 12,500 global job cuts
The Sunderland plant directly employs 6,700 people and supports a further 27,000 UK supply chain jobs, three-quarters of which are in North East England.
Nissan builds the Qashqai SUV and the Leaf EV in Sunderland, as well as the second-generation Juke. The car maker previously reversed a decision to bring X-Trail production to the plant, while in 2016 the UK government offered Nissan post-Brexit financial incentives of up to £60 million.
But recent years have been hard for Nissan. Earlier in the year, the firm announced it was cutting around nine per cent of its global workforce amid a fall in profits, while former chairman Carlos Ghosn is under investigation by Japanese authorities for allegedly under declaring his pay, and a number of other alleged instances of misconduct.
A Nissan spokesperson told Auto Express: “While we don’t comment on speculative scenarios, our plans for Qashqai production in Sunderland have not changed.”
The firm reiterated its position on Brexit: “Frictionless trade has enabled the growth that has seen our Sunderland plant become the biggest factory in the history of the UK car industry, exporting more than half of its production to the EU.
“Today we are among those companies with major investments in the UK who are still waiting for clarity on what the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU will look like.
• European car makers warn of "irreversible" no-deal Brexit effects
“As a sudden change from the current arrangements to the rules of the WTO will have serious implications for British industry, we urge UK and EU negotiators to work collaboratively towards an orderly balanced Brexit that will continue to encourage mutually beneficial trade.”
While Nissan’s response to these reports is equivocal, Vauxhall’s owner PSA has explicitly stated that its decision to continue manufacturing cars at Ellesmere Port is “conditional on the final terms of the UK's exit from the European Union.”
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