Nissan

[Cunninghamismagic]

Interesting that they are closing the EU based Barcelona factory but keeping open the one in Sunderland. I thought this was impossible in Brexit Britain?

[baggy1]

Not impossible at all CIM and a shrewd move by Nissan - they know that their biggest european market is the UK and will be able to keep their prices below imported cars because of tariffs. The downside is the cost of other manufacturers going up.

[Solihull Throstle]

Apparently the new model they are building there has in-built eye test technology.
Well....the satnav is programmed to take you directly to Barnards Castle if you feel a test is needed.

[Borin' Baggie]

Is this really interesting? Anyone with any involvement in the automotive industry knew this would happen last year. Nissan/Renault are in severe financial difficulties and I doubt this crisis has helped with that, they need to cut production volumes worldwide and the Sunderland plant is one of the few of their plants that is productive and profitable, owed to it being recently upgraded and being tooled to produce the profitable Nissan crossover/SUV models like the Qashqai. Two lines were cut back with no job losses in Sunderland in preparation of moving similar models there last year. The two Renault models they are moving, the Kaptur and the Cadjur, are based on the same framework as those made in Sunderland so it makes sense to move production there instead of a costly retool of Barcelona. The rest of the production at Barcelona is moving to Renault factories in France under the same principles.

[Protheroe]

Is this really interesting? Anyone with any involvement in the automotive industry knew this would happen last year. Nissan/Renault are in severe financial difficulties and I doubt this crisis has helped with that, they need to cut production volumes worldwide and the Sunderland plant is one of the few of their plants that is productive and profitable, owed to it being recently upgraded and being tooled to produce the profitable Nissan crossover/SUV models like the Qashqai. Two lines were cut back with no job losses in Sunderland in preparation of moving similar models there last year. The two Renault models they are moving, the Kaptur and the Cadjur, are based on the same framework as those made in Sunderland so it makes sense to move production there instead of a costly retool of Barcelona. The rest of the production at Barcelona is moving to Renault factories in France under the same principles.

It's interesting insofar as Remainers would have you believe there was no such thing as 'automotive economics' and that jobs would automatically move to the continent just because we left the EU.

[baggy1]

Being a bit selective there Proth, no such thing and I may have already mentioned Nissan's plans on here. Their main market is the UK so they have made a strategic move to avoid any tariffs that we will end up paying on other imported makes.

[Protheroe]

Being a bit selective there Proth, no such thing and I may have already mentioned Nissan's plans on here. Their main market is the UK so they have made a strategic move to avoid any tariffs that we will end up paying on other imported makes.

I'm not accusing you, I'm accusing simpletons who believed that Nissan would relocate depsite the market fundamentals. There were plenty of them.

[baggy1]

Glad I'm not seen as a simpleton (on this occasion   )

[Protheroe]

Glad I'm not seen as a simpleton (on this occasion   )

Give it time

[Borin' Baggie]

Is this really interesting? Anyone with any involvement in the automotive industry knew this would happen last year. Nissan/Renault are in severe financial difficulties and I doubt this crisis has helped with that, they need to cut production volumes worldwide and the Sunderland plant is one of the few of their plants that is productive and profitable, owed to it being recently upgraded and being tooled to produce the profitable Nissan crossover/SUV models like the Qashqai. Two lines were cut back with no job losses in Sunderland in preparation of moving similar models there last year. The two Renault models they are moving, the Kaptur and the Cadjur, are based on the same framework as those made in Sunderland so it makes sense to move production there instead of a costly retool of Barcelona. The rest of the production at Barcelona is moving to Renault factories in France under the same principles.

It's interesting insofar as Remainers would have you believe there was no such thing as 'automotive economics' and that jobs would automatically move to the continent just because we left the EU.

On the flipside, a lot of Brexiteers downplay the significant issues that leaving the customs union will have on large scale manufacturing in this country, especially in relation to parts sourced from the continent.

We'll have to wait and see whether the costs associated with adjusting the supply chain and retooling for any new models outweigh the costs associated with moving production away from Sunderland and into France.