Nissan to build new electric car battery factory in Britain
NISSAN, the Japanese carmaker, said yesterday it will invest £200m in a new factory in the North East to produce batteries for electric cars, which is expected to create 350 new jobs.
The UK plant, to be based in Sunderland near Nissan’s Wearside car plant, will be its main site for battery production in Europe.
Nissan will also locate another electric battery plant in Portugal. The factories will have an annual capacity of 60,000 units each.
Nissan and its French alliance partner, Renault, plan to begin selling electric cars in the US and Japan from next year. It will sell these cars globally from 2012.
Observers say Nissan’s existing Wearside base, which employs 4,200 staff, is in line to secure the rights to manufacture electric cars in Europe. A contract of this scale will protect the long-term future of the plant.
The government has agreed to support Nissan’s venture, through loans and grants via the £2.3bn Automotive Assistance Programme, although the size of support is unclear.
Trevor Mann, the senior vice-president for manufacturing, Europe, at Nissan, said the investment showed the car maker’s “commitment” to zero-emission vehicles.
Business secretary Lord Mandelson said: “This is good news not just for the North East, but for the UK.”
The news comes only days after Japanese rival Toyota said it would start manufacturing the new Auris hybrid petrol-electric vehicle at its plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire from mid-2010.