Nissan UK Factory Creates 800 Jobs

By: Anthony Fontanelle


Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. will be opening a factory in the United Kingdom to respond to the rising demand for the Qashqai. As a direct consequence, the automaker will be creating 800 jobs.

"Currently, on two shifts, we can produce 200,000 Qashqais per year. However, the car is proving so popular we now need to significantly increase our volume," said Trevor Mann, the senior vice president of Nissan Europe.

Nissan's Sunderland plant, which employs 4,200 workers, built 353,000 cars in 2007. Over 130,000 of the small 4X4 vehicles have been sold in the U.K. since their debut in March last year. On a daily basis, approximately 850 Qashqais roll off the production line. This is why there is a need for the automaker to add an extra night-shift.

The automaker's plant in Sunderland, which has started producing cars in 1986, will be adding a third shift in order to produce four models - Qashqai, Note and two Micra.

The manufacturer of also added in an interview with the Press Association that hundreds of temporary workers will also be offered permanent jobs. Half of the new jobs will be full-time and the other 400 will be temporary, and all the new workers will be recruited by the end of 2008, the report continued.

"This is a tremendously positive move by Nissan and represents a great vote of confidence both in the success of Qashqai and in the Sunderland workforce, who achieved a record production year in 2007," Mann said. "Today, this level of recruitment in the Western European car manufacturing sector is rare, and reflects the ongoing commitment Nissan has in its UK operation."

"This is fantastic news for the North East, our members and the motor industry as a whole. Unite members were instrumental in the near flawless launch of the UK-designed Qashqai. With orders and forecasted sales expected to be even better this year, a third shift of production is needed in order to meet demand," Roger Maddison, national officer for union Unite, told the BBC News.

The automaker's Sunderland plant built almost five million cars since production on Wearside began a couple of decades ago.

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