Business Secretary Greg Clark admits Nissan U-turn on Sunderland plant is a blow for the UK
BUSINESS Secretary Greg Clark admitted to a body blow on Sunday as Nissan confirmed it had reversed a decision to build a new SUV in Sunderland.
The Japanese car giant went back on a post-Brexit pledge to make its next-generation X-Trail diesel motor at the flagship plant.
No jobs will go as a result of yesterday’s decision.
And Nissan insisted that - separately - production on a new Qashqai would begin as expected in 2020.
But Tory MPs admitted the decision was a setback for No 10 given Nissan’s pledge in late 2016 was hailed as vindication of Theresa May’s Brexit vision.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Clark said: “Nissan’s announcement is a blow to the sector and the region, as this was to be a further significant expansion of the site and the workforce.”
Unions and Labour warned the PM that more investment would leave Britain unless the PM took the threat of a No Deal off the table.
In a message to staff yesterday Nissan chairman Gianluca de Ficchy said “business reasons” lay behind the company’s decision.
But he added: “Clearly the uncertainty around the UK’s future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future.”
Nissan’s announcement is a blow to the sector and the region
Business Secretary Greg Clark
Eurosceptic Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg said he believed this was a “fake issue” and the collapse of the diesel market was the main driver for Nissan’s u-turn.
Nissan was due to announce its decision later on Monday but the news leaked after Nissan informed Greg Clark on Friday.
The X-Trail is already made in Japan and the US.
Ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn decided to use Sunderland for the car in late 2016 after seeking assurances on Britain’s Brexit plan. At the time, the PM labelled the decision “fantastic news”.
Mr Ghosn is now languishing in a Toyko jail on allegations of tax evasion and financial irregularities.
Japan’s free-trade deal with the EU – which will gradually lower tariffs on car imports from the Far-East- came into force last week.
Car sales in the UK plunged 7 per cent to a five year low in 2018. Diesel made up less than a third of the total – two years after parity with petrol cars.
Unite acting national officer Steve Bush said: “The government’s mishandling of the transition away from diesel - allied to the continuing uncertainty around our future trading relationship with the EU - are extremely unhelpful.”
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Treasury minister Liz Truss dismissed claims that Nissan’s decision was as a result of Brexit.
She said: “This is everything that is normal, that happens.
“Speculation about industry has been pushed into the Brexit story. I don’t think that is fair.”
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