Nissan invests £400m in Sunderland Plant for NEW Qashqai

Nissan’s investment in its Sunderland factory includes a £52m extra-large press line in preparation for new Qashqai production

Nissan has invested £400 million in its Sunderland plant, including £52 million for a new extra-large metal press, in preparation for production of the third-generation Qashqai later this year.

Some of the statistics are extraordinary. It can exert 5,400 tonnes of pressure, produce over 6.1million vehicle panels a year, weighs more than 2,000 tonnes, and took 18 months to install.
It  features includes a new recycling system to segregate and process scrap, as well as upgrades to an existing blanking line that supplies sheets of metal ready to be pressed.

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The first panel to be produced by the new line was a wing for a Nissan Juke, which is currently in its second generation.
March 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the first ever Juke rolling off the Sunderland plant’s production line. The current model has been built exclusively at the plant since October 2019.

The £400 million investment follows a previous injection of £100 million for Juke production, and is part of an overall package of £1 billion being spent on the factory over the course of five years. Nissan’s investment has been supported by the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the new press line, Nissan’s chief operating officer, Ashwani Gupta, said: “When first Nissan Qashqai rolled off the line in Sunderland in 2006, it created the crossover segment.
Steve Marsh, vice president of manufacturing at Nissan Sunderland, added: “Watching the first perfect panels coming off the press was a proud moment, and is a reflection of the tremendous skills we have here.

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