Fears major UK car factory where Nissan Qashqais are made every minute could SHUT after merger plans collapse
FEARS are brewing over the future of a UK Nissan factory after discussions over a merger with another major car firm collapsed.
Plans were in the works for Nissan and Honda to use each other's plants to build vehicles and create manufacturing capabilities that would rival Tesla.
But talks over the merger were formally scrapped this week after due to Nissan's reluctance to become a subsidiary of its rival firm.
The Japanese carmaker has since announced its plans for a restructure - confirming three of its global factories will shut as part of a £2billion saving initiative.
It comes as the company is said to be facing a make-or-break 12 months and reportedly could go under without much-needed financial support.
And Nissan has not ruled out whether its only remaining European facility, based in Sunderland, will be included in the cuts.
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A spokesperson for Nissan Europe said nothing has been specified on closures other than Thailand, Autocar reports.
They added: “Given the latest performance of our company and the changing environment it is essential we explore options without any taboo and carry out a deeper structural reform.”
Sunderland started out building Bluebird in 1986 and has now topped 11 million cars.
One in three UK-built cars is made in the North East — more than 400,000 a year — with a new Qashqai born every two minutes.
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Qashqai is considered the crown jewel. The do-it-all SUV continues to set records as the fastest car to one, two, three and four million units.
Line them up end to end and they would stretch from Sunderland to Mount Fuji.
In Sunderland’s favour is the fact that Nissan – along with the UK government – has poured £2bn into the facility in recent years order to build new electric models including the upcoming new Leaf.
Nissan’s battery partner Envision AESC is also finalising construction of a new cell plant on the site.
However, Europe was by far the company's worst performing region financially in the nine months to the end of December.
With losses equivalent to a shocking £354 million.
Meanwhile production rates at the Sunderland plant dropped by a whopping 33 per cent in the three months ending December.
Nissan has already shut its Barcelona factory in an effort to mitigate its plummeting losses - making Sunderland the last European facility.
Should the Sunderland plant close, 6000 jobs would be lost.
The manufacturer already planned to cut 9,000 employees and 20 per cent of global capacity.
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Meaning that closure would represent almost all the 6500 roles Nissan is seeking to axe globally from both vehicle and engine production facilities, between now and 30 March 2027.
Following Nissan's merge withdrawal, fresh questions about how hard-hit Nissan could ride out its latest crisis without external help.
