Nissan’s Sunderland plant in north-east England celebrated the production of more than three million cars for export last week. A ceremony was attended by Nissan president and CEO, Carlos Ghosn, and the British prime minister, Tony Blair.
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Around 75% of the plant’s production has been exported, mainly to Europe, but cars have also been shipped as far afield as Japan and Australia.
The most recent launch was the Note compact family car, which shares its platform with Renault’s latest Clio (and the next Micra) and began production in January. 18,000 units have already been produced to date, and Nissan is targeting annual production of around 90,000 units.
The Note joins the Micra, Micra C+C (launched in November 2005), Almera and Primera as the fifth model being built at Sunderland.
From December 2006, a new crossover vehicle based on the Qashqai concept, will also be produced there.
The crossover introduction will complete one of the busiest periods in the Sunderland plant’s 22-year history – it began in the mid-80s building Bluebird sedans and hatchbacks.
By December, the 4,400-strong workforce will have achieved three new product launches in just 16 months. In 2005, the plant produced 315,000 units.
