Nissan announces X-Trail production will move from Sunderland to Japan

Nissan has announced it will be moving the production of the next-generation X-Trail from the UK to Japan, in a move that comes as a blow to the UK plastics supply chain.

The model was planned for production at the company’s plant in Sunderland, but will now be moved to Kyushu, Japan.

The future models planned for the Sunderland plant, the next-generation Juke and Qashqai, are currently unaffected.

The Sunderland plant is the UK’s biggest car production plant and its supply chain employs around 15,000 people, who could all potentially be affected.

Nissan Europe Chairman Gianluca de Ficchy said: “Nissan is investing heavily in new technologies and powertrains for the next generation of vehicles in our Sunderland plant. To support this we are taking advantage of our global assets, and with the X-Trial already manufactured in Japan, we can reduce our upfront investment costs.”

“We appreciate this will be disappointing for our UK team and partners. Our workforce in Sunderland has our full confidence, and will continue to benefit from the investment planned for the Juke and Qashqai.”

“While we have taken this decision for business reasons, the continued uncertainty around the UK’s future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours plan for the future.”

The news comes in the wake of Jaguar Land Rover announcing 4,500 job cuts thanks to a potential no-deal Brexit, whist Toyota and Vauxhall have also expressed fears of disruption to their supply chains in the event of a no-deal Brexit.