Brexit: Nissan changes Sunderland X-Trail plans

UK-Japan News February 2019

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., has confirmed that the new X-Trail compact crossover SUV, originally planned for production at its plant in Sunderland, will be made in Japan. On 3 February The Independent cited the firm’s Europe chairman, Gianluca de Ficchy, as saying: “We have taken this decision for business reasons. The continued uncertainty around the UK’s future relation­ship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future”. Nissan has made cars in Sunderland since 1986 and employs about 7,000 people. The UK govern­ment said that the decision was a blow to the sector, but that no jobs would be lost as a result.