Nissan will again build the Micra (March) in Europe but the next generation car will be made at the Renault Flins plant, near Paris, France, from 2016 at an estimated annual volume of 82,000 vehicles.
Previous Micras for Europe were made at Nissan’s plant in Sunderland, north east England, but third generation production was shifted to India in 2010 while the English plant geared up for the Juke and Leaf EV, and the coming new Note and a future Infiniti model.
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“Nissan, Renault’s alliance partner, requested the French vehicle manufacturer to produce the next-generation Nissan Micra in Europe at a Renault plant,” Renault said in a statement.
Renault decided to assign the production to Flins. It recently concluded labour negotiations with its union representatives. Entitled “Contract for new growth and social development of Renault in France,” the new contract was signed on 13 March and allows Renault to increase the competitiveness of its French plants.
Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault Group said: “This announcement is good news for Flins,but also for all Renault plants in France. The efforts committed by our employees under the Renault Agreement are beginning to bear fruit. Renault is in line to fulfill its commitments.”
Under terms of the agreement, Renault is committed to increase production volume of its French plants by 180,000 vehicles, to 710,000 vehicles per year. The renewal plan calls for 100,000 cars to come from Renault’s new products and 80,000 vehicles from partners.
