UK production faces major blow as Nissan axes electric car powertrain project in Sunderland

Nissan has confirmed that it will axe one of its key electric car manufacturing goals in the UK as part of a reset of its global strategy.

The Japanese car giant will no longer localise the production of its 3-in-1 electric vehicle powertrain at its Sunderland facility.

Jatco, a subsidiary of Nissan, officially opened its manufacturing plant on the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) in January last year.

It announced that it would produce a 3-in-1 EV powertrain for Nissan's Sunderland plant as part of a £48.7million investment, which created more than 180 highly skilled jobs.

The 3-in-1 electric vehicle powertrain modularises and integrates the motor, inverter and reducer, allowing them to save space and make them lighter.

Speaking at the time, Tomoyoshi Sato, CEO of Jatco, said he was "so proud" to have opened the site in Sunderland.

He gushed over a "long and fruitful partnership" with Nissan, adding that the company was "delighted" to have invested in the North East of England.

However, these plans have now been dashed as Nissan looks to slash costs across the company, which has struggled financially in recent years.

A Nissan spokesperson told GB News: "Under the global Re:Nissan recovery plan, Nissan, together with partners, has conducted a comprehensive review of key initiatives, introducing further measures to ensure a strong recovery.

"As part of this, the decision has been taken not to localise production of 3-in-1 electric vehicle powertrain to the UK."

GB News has also contacted JATCO for a comment.

The Jatco facility in Sunderland originally aimed to reach a production capacity of 340,000 units from the factory.

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Japanese outlet Nikkei claimed that the company is expected to continue supplying the drive units from Japan to the UK.

Nissan started producing its third-generation Leaf electric car in Sunderland last December after the Japanese firm invested £450million in its manufacturing base.

The transformation of the factory involved enabling production Line Two to enable the manufacturing of electric cars for the first time.

More than 137 new press dies have been installed across the Sunderland base, while its 6,000-strong workforce embarked on more than 360,000 hours of training.

The brand's Re:Nissan recovery plan prompted it to take "decisive actions" to enhance performance and create an environment that can better react to market changes.

This involved the Sunderland plant having production consolidated from two lines to just one and job cuts across the continent.

A spokesperson told GB News that it was assessing "future opportunities to secure full plant utilisation", with reports claiming that it could work with Chinese companies to manufacture vehicles in the UK.

It also proposed partially closing its warehouse in Barcelona, France, and moving to an importer model for its Nordic markets.