NEW NISSAN MICRA WILL BE MADE IN UK
London, 25 January 2001 -- Today at 10 Downing Street in the presence of the Rt Hon Tony Blair, Prime Minister, Carlos Ghosn, President, Nissan Motor Company, announced that the company will build the next generation Nissan Micra at its UK manufacturing operation based in Sunderland.
Following an extensive internal profitability review and discussions with the UK Government, Mr Ghosn took the final decision. With the new Micra, the Sunderland plant will become one of the top volume facilities for Nissan worldwide. With projected annual output of 500,000 units and a workforce of 5000 employees, Nissan will be the largest car producer in the U.K.
Mr Carlos Ghosn said: "We made this decision based on extensive profitability analysis. It relied on three elements. First, our belief that the U.K. will again provide a place where we can build cars competitively. We believe it can offer us a favourable business environment with a competitive and stable exchange rate. Second, the £40 million regional selective assistance, which swayed the balance, particularly in the short-term, towards Sunderland. Third, the convincing record of our Sunderland plant, where we have already invested £1.5 billion, in delivering on superior quality and productivity and committing to a 30% cost reduction through 2003."
To secure the investment, the Sunderland plant focussed on overcoming the present cost disadvantage of manufacturing outside the Euro zone. Employees responded by agreeing a new 24-hour working system and management has committed to a 30 per cent cost reduction programme. Nissan is also putting in place a purchasing policy designed to minimize the present negative impact of the unfavorable currency exchange rate.
Nissan will produce the first common platform product of the Renault Nissan Alliance in Europe when Micra production begins. The new Micra will share many common components with the replacement for the current Renault Clio, Twingo as well as the Nissan March and Cube, which will be sold in Japan. Globally, the two companies will produce 1.7 million vehicles per year from this jointly developed platform.
Production of the new Nissan Micra will begin in late 2002. The Sunderland plant also produces the Nissan Almera and will continue production of the Nissan Primera when the next generation model is launched in Europe. It has been named Europe's most productive car plant by both the Harbour and EIU reports.
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