United Kingdom: Nissan invests 1.12 billion pounds in electric cars

Japanese car giant Nissan announced on Friday a massive investment of more than a billion pounds in building two new electric car models at its factory in Sunderland, in the north-east of the United Kingdom. “Nissan's latest investment includes up to £1.12 billion (€1.29 billion) in its UK operations and wider supply chain for research and development and manufacturing of the two new models,” describes the manufacturer in a press release.

Nissan adds that an additional gigafactory of batteries and other investments in infrastructure projects, in particular to supply the factory with energy, will result in an investment which could reach two billion pounds in total. “Nissan's investment is a huge mark of confidence in the British automotive industry, which already contributes 71 billion pounds per year to our economy,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak immediately welcomed in a press release. .

It should “secure the future of Nissan’s 7,000 highly skilled employees in the UK as well as 30,000 employees in the supply chain”, according to the press release. Rishi Sunak and UK Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt visited the Sunderland site on Friday morning, ahead of a formal announcement of the investment by Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida. “With electric versions of our main European models on the way, we are heading into a new era for Nissan,” insisted Mr. Uchida, in a press release.

The Japanese manufacturer is planning electric versions of its Qashqai and Juke models and is also planning a new generation of its Leaf, an electric car released around ten years ago and already manufactured in Sunderland. Friday's announcement is "fantastic news which secures the long-term future of the site and thousands of skilled jobs" but the British government must invest more in "the British automotive industry as a whole", reacted in Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said in a statement.

In 2021, Nissan and its battery supplier AESC, owned by Chinese Envision, had already announced an investment of one billion pounds in the Sunderland site. This sum was intended to build a first giga-battery factory, alongside a first smaller manufacturing site. The third unit announced on Friday will also be located in Sunderland. The British government also confirmed on Friday £15 million in funding for a £30 million collaborative project with the builder in Cranfield, northwest London.

The United Kingdom wants to consolidate its position in the global race for the electrification of the automobile, in the midst of an energy transition. In September, the German car manufacturer BMW announced an investment of more than 600 million pounds in the electrification of Minis in the United Kingdom. And the Indian giant Tata, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, announced in July an investment of 4 billion pounds in an electric battery mega-factory across the Channel.

With Nissan's “significant commitment” “the British car manufacturing sector continues to demonstrate that it attracts investment,” said Mike Hawes, managing director of the sector organization SMMT in a press release. During a budget presentation on Wednesday, British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt dedicated 4.5 billion pounds to aid for strategic industrial sectors, including the automobile industry.

The government of conservative Rishi Sunak, however, recently put the brakes on its environmental ambitions by postponing for five years the ban on fossil fuel cars in particular. Another concern for the sector, the possible entry into force of post-Brexit customs duties of 10% from January 1 which would hit electric cars exported between the United Kingdom and the European Union if an agreement is not found before between London and Brussels.

Nissan is now the only car manufacturer in the UK with a battery factory close to its assembly plant. Its boss, Makoto Uchida, affirmed in September that there would be no turning back for his group and that it would notably go “all electric by 2030 in Europe”.