Nissan Plans for Qashqai, X-Trail and Juke

UK-Japan News October 2019

Plans to produce the next line of the Qashqai compact crossover SUV in Sunderland will be reassessed by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. if Britain goes through with a no-deal Brexit, according to a 1 October story on UK-based financial website This Is Money.

The plan to use the Sunderland factory was a joint effort by former Nissan Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn and former UK Prime Minister Theresa May to generate about 7,000 new jobs—all of which are now at risk.

This comes after Nissan’s decision to cancel production of the X-Trail SUV in Sunderland, which will be produced in Japan instead. Nissan is expected to cut 12,500 jobs worldwide by 2020.

However, Nissan confirmed it would not change its plans to manufacture the next-generation Juke vehicle at the Sunderland factory.

As reported by Japan Today on 14 October, Nissan has invested £100mn in the Juke with 70% of production in European Union markets.

The firm’s Europe Chairman Gianluca de Ficchy said the Sunderland factory was built to serve European markets and that the Juke is designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK for European customers.

Nissan will discontinue the night shift at the plant, lowering total staff to fewer than 6,000, and is expected to cut 12,500 jobs worldwide by 2020.