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Nissan Leaf to be manufactured in Sunderland |
Production of electric car and batteries represents £420 million investment.
Nissan have announced that their electric car, the Nissan Leaf, will be manufactured at their plant in Sunderland.
The Leaf is the first in a range of forthcoming Nissan electric vehicles and is the world’s first affordable, mass produced zero emission car.
Nissan also announced that construction of its advanced lithium-ion battery plant will begin this April.
The facility will begin construction in April and will have a production capacity of 60,000 units a year and will start manufacturing batteries in 2012 for both Nissan and its Alliance partner Renault.
The production of Nissan Leaf and the batteries represents a total investment of more than £420 million in the Sunderland Plant and is expected to maintain about 2,250 jobs at Nissan and across the UK supply chain.
The investment will be supported by a £20.7 million Grant for Business Investment from the UK Government and a proposed finance package from the European Investment Bank of up to £197.3 million.
Sunderland will come on-line in early 2013 with an initial annual production capacity of about 50,000 units.
The UK’s Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: "This investment is a fantastic vote of confidence in the Sunderland plant and its excellent workforce."
"The automotive sector is of key importance to the UK. It supports R&D, technological innovation, skills and a supply chain that’s a mainstay of the wider manufacturing sector."
Further information:
Nissan |
