NOT THE LEAF
Nissan will invest $1.4 billion to make EV versions of its best-selling cars at its UK factory
KELVIN CHAN
Updated Fri, November 24, 2023
KELVIN CHAN
Updated Fri, November 24, 2023
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt attach a Nissan badge to a car as they visit the car manufacturer Nissan, in Sunderland, England, Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. Nissan will invest more than $1.3 billion to update its factory in northeast England to make electric versions of its two best-selling cars. It's a boost for the British government as it tries to revive the country’s ailing economy. The Japanese automaker manufactures the gasoline-powered Qashqai and smaller Juke crossover vehicles at the factory in Sunderland, which employs 6,000 workers.
(Ian Forsyth/Pool Photo via AP)
LONDON (AP) — Nissan will invest $1.4 billion to update its factory in northeast England to make electric versions of its two best-selling cars, a boost for the British government as it tries to revive the country's ailing economy.
The Japanese automaker manufactures the gasoline or gas-hybrid Qashqai and smaller Juke crossover vehicles at the factory in Sunderland, which employs 6,000 workers.
Nissan Motor Co. said it's directly investing up to 1.12 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) to produce electric successors to the two models. The money also will enable “wider investment in infrastructure projects and the supply chain, including a new gigafactory" for EV batteries at the site, the government said in a separate press release.
“Nissan’s investment is a massive vote of confidence in the U.K.’s automotive industry,” which contributes 71 billion pounds a year to the economy, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
Sunak visited the factory for the announcement, posing for photos with Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt in front of a blue Qashqai on the assembly line, meeting workers and getting a tour from plant staff. The day before, Hunt announced tax cuts and other budget priorities ahead of a national election next year, coming as economic growth is weak in the U.K. and still-high inflation is squeezing consumers.
The Qashqai is the U.K.’s second most popular vehicle this year, while the Juke is the seventh. Nissan also said it will make the next generation of its long-running Leaf electric car at the factory.
The company said in 2021 that it planned to build an electric vehicle at the factory, alongside batteries made next door by supplier AESC, owned by China's Envision. AESC already has two gigafactories in Sunderland, and Friday's announcement adds a third.
EVs are “at the heart of our plans to achieve carbon neutrality," Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida said in a statement. “With electric versions of our core European models on the way, we are accelerating towards a new era for Nissan, for industry and for our customers.”
Nissan has set a target of electrifying its entire European passenger car lineup by 2030.
“With today’s announcement, we are making that vision happen," Uchida said at the plant, which temporarily stopped production for the ceremony.
The future of Nissan's Sunderland had been in question before and after Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union. Brexit opponents said leaving the bloc without a trade deal would damage Britain’s economy because companies like Nissan would face tariffs on exports to the EU.
The auto industry is bracing for 10% post-Brexit trade tariffs taking effect in January. They threaten to raise the cost of new EVs by punishing manufacturers in their respective markets for not sourcing enough of their components from either the EU or Britain.
Many EV makers will struggle to meet the requirement because Europe lags behind Asia in battery production. Nissan, however, is the only carmaker in the U.K. with a dedicated battery plant nearby.
Nissan joins other automakers making the transition to EV production in the U.K., even as Sunak pushed back a deadline to end the sale of new gas and diesel cars by five years, to 2035.
BMW said earlier this year that it's investing 600 million pounds into its Mini factory in Oxford, England, to start making electric vehicles by 2026.
India’s Tata Sons, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, is building a 4 billion-pound EV battery factory in the U.K. that's expected to produce about 40 gigawatt hours of battery cells every year, enough to provide half the U.K.’s electric vehicle batteries.
Stellantis, parent company of British automaker Vauxhall, is investing 100 million pounds to make electric vans and cars in northwestern England.
The Japanese automaker manufactures the gasoline or gas-hybrid Qashqai and smaller Juke crossover vehicles at the factory in Sunderland, which employs 6,000 workers.
Nissan Motor Co. said it's directly investing up to 1.12 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) to produce electric successors to the two models. The money also will enable “wider investment in infrastructure projects and the supply chain, including a new gigafactory" for EV batteries at the site, the government said in a separate press release.
“Nissan’s investment is a massive vote of confidence in the U.K.’s automotive industry,” which contributes 71 billion pounds a year to the economy, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
Sunak visited the factory for the announcement, posing for photos with Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt in front of a blue Qashqai on the assembly line, meeting workers and getting a tour from plant staff. The day before, Hunt announced tax cuts and other budget priorities ahead of a national election next year, coming as economic growth is weak in the U.K. and still-high inflation is squeezing consumers.
The Qashqai is the U.K.’s second most popular vehicle this year, while the Juke is the seventh. Nissan also said it will make the next generation of its long-running Leaf electric car at the factory.
The company said in 2021 that it planned to build an electric vehicle at the factory, alongside batteries made next door by supplier AESC, owned by China's Envision. AESC already has two gigafactories in Sunderland, and Friday's announcement adds a third.
EVs are “at the heart of our plans to achieve carbon neutrality," Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida said in a statement. “With electric versions of our core European models on the way, we are accelerating towards a new era for Nissan, for industry and for our customers.”
Nissan has set a target of electrifying its entire European passenger car lineup by 2030.
“With today’s announcement, we are making that vision happen," Uchida said at the plant, which temporarily stopped production for the ceremony.
The future of Nissan's Sunderland had been in question before and after Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union. Brexit opponents said leaving the bloc without a trade deal would damage Britain’s economy because companies like Nissan would face tariffs on exports to the EU.
The auto industry is bracing for 10% post-Brexit trade tariffs taking effect in January. They threaten to raise the cost of new EVs by punishing manufacturers in their respective markets for not sourcing enough of their components from either the EU or Britain.
Many EV makers will struggle to meet the requirement because Europe lags behind Asia in battery production. Nissan, however, is the only carmaker in the U.K. with a dedicated battery plant nearby.
Nissan joins other automakers making the transition to EV production in the U.K., even as Sunak pushed back a deadline to end the sale of new gas and diesel cars by five years, to 2035.
BMW said earlier this year that it's investing 600 million pounds into its Mini factory in Oxford, England, to start making electric vehicles by 2026.
India’s Tata Sons, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, is building a 4 billion-pound EV battery factory in the U.K. that's expected to produce about 40 gigawatt hours of battery cells every year, enough to provide half the U.K.’s electric vehicle batteries.
Stellantis, parent company of British automaker Vauxhall, is investing 100 million pounds to make electric vans and cars in northwestern England.
UK's desperation can be exploited as it can't compete with £100bns spent by the US and EU
Sky News
Updated Fri, 24 November 2023
If you are willing to invest in Britain you should expect government support.
Make it £2bn announced in the week of a major fiscal event, as Nissan did on Friday, and you get the prime minister and chancellor of the exchequer showing their gratitude with a shift on the production line.
The sight of Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt fitting a badge to the front of a Qashqai was a sign this investment means almost as much to the two key workers in Downing Street as it does to Nissan's 7,000 UK staff.
Britain's best-selling car might be the sort of vehicle Mr Sunak only borrows for photo shoots, but the construction of a new gigafactory in Sunderland means that, should the need arise, he'll still be able to pose with one when they are all-electric.
Battery powered successors to the Qashqai and the Juke, as well as the already all-electric Leaf, will now be made in Sunderland, a commitment that should see Britain's largest car plant into a second half century of production.
The taxpayer will kick in around £100m of the £1.12bn Nissan has committed to vehicle production, with further incentives likely to be part of the £900m cost of the battery plant and construction of a renewable energy 'microgrid".
For a prime minister struggling to prove he has a plan to replace the industrial strategy he tore up when he came to office, it was a good end to another challenging week.
From the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 to his five-year delay to the ban on new petrol and diesel cars, Mr Sunak's backtracking has left industry and investors privately questioning the UK's reliability.
In response Mr Sunak can now point to up to £1bn spent on securing long-term commitments from major manufacturers.
Indian conglomerate Tata, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, has done particularly well, receiving £500m to support its £4bn gigafactory in Somerset and several hundred more to transition to green steel production at its Port Talbot plant.
BMW got around £75m towards its £600m investment in building the electric Mini at Oxford Cowley, albeit with imported batteries, and Stellantis, owner of Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat, will make electric minivans at Ellesmere Port.
With Honda having closed its Swindon plant after Brexit, that leaves only Toyota of Britain's existing manufacturers yet to commit to electrification in the UK, and that may change in the coming months.
There are still questions the prime minister, chancellor and business secretary Kemi Badenoch, a noted opponent of any strategy that smells of state intervention, need to address.
Is the current pattern of doling out subsidies (which they all claim to oppose) an efficient or cost-effective way of leveraging taxpayer funding?
With the US and EU planning to spend hundreds of billions on attracting industry the UK cannot compete on scale, but every pound matters and desperation can be exploited.
And what of the role of China in battery production?
Nissan's new factory will likely be built by its partner AESC, owned by Envision, which may prove to be one of those Chinese companies with which the UK government cannot afford to have a problem.
Sky News
Updated Fri, 24 November 2023
If you are willing to invest in Britain you should expect government support.
Make it £2bn announced in the week of a major fiscal event, as Nissan did on Friday, and you get the prime minister and chancellor of the exchequer showing their gratitude with a shift on the production line.
The sight of Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt fitting a badge to the front of a Qashqai was a sign this investment means almost as much to the two key workers in Downing Street as it does to Nissan's 7,000 UK staff.
Britain's best-selling car might be the sort of vehicle Mr Sunak only borrows for photo shoots, but the construction of a new gigafactory in Sunderland means that, should the need arise, he'll still be able to pose with one when they are all-electric.
Battery powered successors to the Qashqai and the Juke, as well as the already all-electric Leaf, will now be made in Sunderland, a commitment that should see Britain's largest car plant into a second half century of production.
The taxpayer will kick in around £100m of the £1.12bn Nissan has committed to vehicle production, with further incentives likely to be part of the £900m cost of the battery plant and construction of a renewable energy 'microgrid".
For a prime minister struggling to prove he has a plan to replace the industrial strategy he tore up when he came to office, it was a good end to another challenging week.
From the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 to his five-year delay to the ban on new petrol and diesel cars, Mr Sunak's backtracking has left industry and investors privately questioning the UK's reliability.
In response Mr Sunak can now point to up to £1bn spent on securing long-term commitments from major manufacturers.
Indian conglomerate Tata, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, has done particularly well, receiving £500m to support its £4bn gigafactory in Somerset and several hundred more to transition to green steel production at its Port Talbot plant.
BMW got around £75m towards its £600m investment in building the electric Mini at Oxford Cowley, albeit with imported batteries, and Stellantis, owner of Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat, will make electric minivans at Ellesmere Port.
With Honda having closed its Swindon plant after Brexit, that leaves only Toyota of Britain's existing manufacturers yet to commit to electrification in the UK, and that may change in the coming months.
There are still questions the prime minister, chancellor and business secretary Kemi Badenoch, a noted opponent of any strategy that smells of state intervention, need to address.
Is the current pattern of doling out subsidies (which they all claim to oppose) an efficient or cost-effective way of leveraging taxpayer funding?
With the US and EU planning to spend hundreds of billions on attracting industry the UK cannot compete on scale, but every pound matters and desperation can be exploited.
And what of the role of China in battery production?
Nissan's new factory will likely be built by its partner AESC, owned by Envision, which may prove to be one of those Chinese companies with which the UK government cannot afford to have a problem.
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