LONDON — Nissan will drop a shift from the main Qashqai compact SUV production line at its factory in Sunderland, England, as part of its global cost-saving plan.
The line will move to a single shift, while a second line that builds the Qashqai, Juke small SUV and is due to add the upcoming replacement for the Leaf EV will continue with two shifts.
Affected workers on line one will move to line two, meaning the plant’s total workforce will be unaffected, a spokesperson for Nissan Sunderland told Automotive News Europe.
The changes will help Nissan “turn around its performance and create a leaner, more resilient business,” the company said in an emailed statement.
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Nissan’s European operations are under close scrutiny after the region was the automaker’s worst performing business financially in the nine months to Dec. 31, with losses of ¥68 billion ($454 million), according to company figures.
Production at Sunderland fell 33 percent in the three months ending Dec. 31 to 61,000 vehicles, with nine-month production down 17 percent to 203,000 units.
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The factory last year stopped building the second-generation Leaf ahead of production of the new model, which Nissan has said will start before March 31, 2026. Nissan has previously announced it will spend £423 million ($545 million) on upgrading the Sunderland plant to produce up to 100,000 Leafs a year.
Battery packs will come from a new cell plant being built next door to the Nissan factory by supplier AESC, which is owned by China’s Envision.
The Sunderland factory will also start producing the Qashqai with the third generation of Nissan’s e-Power hybrid system starting this financial year, the automaker said.
Sunderland production has declined in recent years after hitting a peak of more than 500,000 in 2016, before falling to 325,458 last year.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida’s rescue plan for the struggling automaker includes closing three global plants, slashing 9,000 jobs globally, of which 6,500 will be on the manufacturing side, and reducing production capacity. The first factory to be shuttered will be Nissan’s factory in Thailand. Nissan has not named the other two factories to be closed.
Uchida is battling to keep his job following dismal earnings and the collapse of talks to combine Nissan with Honda. Nissan directors are gauging interest in potential candidates to replace Uchida, Bloomberg reported.
Nissan is due to announce a shake-up in its top ranks on March 12.
Nissan ha ridotto la capacità produttiva nell'impianto di Sunderland, l'unico rimasto sul territorio europeo. Si vocifera un completo abbandono del vecchio continente.
Un aspetto interessante del curriculum di Uchida è che è laureato in teologia. Da Dio (Buddha) a Nissan, le strade del Signore sono infinite.
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