Nissan Note Job One came off the line late on Monday at Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK’s Sunderland plant in north-east England.
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The first car was a right-hand-drive silver 1.6-litre petrol ‘SVE’ grade model destined for a UK customer.
The five-door compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV or minivan) brings the number of models built at the UK’s largest car plant to five, following the launch of the Micra C+C steel roof coupe-cabriolet last September.
In December this year, a four-wheel drive ‘crossover’ based on the Qashqai concept will become the sixth model to be produced on Wearside.
Note production follows an investment of around GBP125m, with about a fifth of that going towards preparation at the plant, and its suppliers. It takes the total investment in the factory to more than GBP2.1bn.
The car’s arrival also safeguards around 800 jobs with a further 200 new posts being created directly at the plant. More jobs have been safeguarded throughout Nissan’s supply chain.
Plant vice-president Trevor Mann, said: “We plan to sell in excess of 90,000 units each year making the Note a high volume model. As such it’s a very important car for us and will make a big contribution to Nissan’s overall success in the challenging European market.
“The fact that we keep attracting new models is a testament to our workforce. It takes a great deal of sustained effort to remain competitive, and days like this are the pay-off for a lot of very hard work on behalf of everyone at the plant, and our suppliers.”
Around 80% of Notes built in Sunderland will be exported to mainland Europe, with the remainder going to dealers in the UK and Ireland.
The new model will be ramped up to full production in a plant record of around three weeks. It will be built on Line 1 with the Almera and Primera while Line 2 will continue producing the Micra and Micra C+C.
The Note is about 35cms longer than a Micra and features such as rear sliding bench seat, folding passenger seat and split luggage area have been designed to cater for the needs of a young family.
UK buyers will be offered three engines – a 1.4 litre petrol unit which will also be manufactured in Sunderland, a 1.5 (Renault) dCi diesel and a 1.6 litre petrol.
UK deliveries begin in March (April for diesels) with prices ranging from £9,995 to £13,395.
There are three trim grades and both manual and automatic transmissions are available.
