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Nissan remains top car producer

Nissan’s Sunderland plant has been named the largest car producer in the UK for the 12th year running.

Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows that the Sunderland plant accounted for 338,150 of the cars produced in the UK last year - more than one in three of the total 999,460.

The figures mean that the Sunderland plant has been the most productive in the country for almost half of its 26-year life.

The Qashqai proved to be Sunderland’s most popular car last year, with 198,841 units manufactured. The plant has built more than half a million Qashqais since the model launched in 2007. Sunderland also built 88,429 Micras and 50,880 Note models last year, both of which benefited from scrappage incentives in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Trevor Mann, Nissan’s senior vice president for Manufacturing, Europe, said: “This is good news for everyone at the plant. Credit for the achievement goes to our Sunderland workforce which continues to work extremely hard to meet demand.

“This performance also reflects the strength of the models we are producing in Sunderland at the moment, especially Qashqai which continues to be an extremely popular car.

“2010 is going to be another tough year for car makers, and the industry is predicting a cooling in demand in general terms. However, Sunderland has worked hard to win the right models for the market and we are benefitting from that.”

An updated version of the Qashqai will launch this spring, and in August Sunderland is scheduled to begin building the new Juke crossover, which goes on sale in the autumn.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .