[Nissan Qashqai News]

Nissan is the UK’s top automobile producer and right now, the manufacturer is deciding if they want to produce the next generation Qashqai at the Sunderland plant in light of Brexit.

Currently, the factory is Britain's largest car plant employing around 6,700 people. Their future employment is dependent on the factory’s competitiveness despite Brexit. Businesses are concerned after Britain voted to leave the European Union in June as they could be facing a 10% tariff on cars slated for the EU market.

Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn is “not asking for any advantage [from the British government], but we don’t want to lose any competitiveness no matter what the discussions." Nissan has received reassurance from the British government as Ghosn has admitted that the government will be very cautious regarding the preservation of the plant’s competitiveness.

Nissan producing the Qashqai outside of Britain could prove disastrous as one in three vehicles produced in the UK last year was from the manufacturer and more than half of them were exported to Europe. The UK will need to give Nissan enough incentive to stay or risk losing future Sunderland plant investment from Nissan. Ironically, according to The Irish Times, around 61 per cent of votes from Sunderland during the referendum favoured leaving the EU.

The final decision will be made next month and production of the next generation Qashqai is expected to start in 2018 or 2019.

 

[NissanDriver]

A long term strategy is to get out of Britain and that's what this might eventually come down to. Nissan seems to be smart when it comes to making the best of its main resource (cash flow) so with that comes their own EXIT. Sucks for the 6000+ employed but since the exit they should have been preparing for this, they made their bed and this is what they get.

 

[VeeQ]

On October 28th, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan, confirmed that they will continue production and investing in Sunderland. The new X-Trail and Qashqai will be produced there.

 

[Dualis]

Guess the gov't gave them enough incentives, but that means the same will need to be extended to all other auto manufacturers or risk looking like they favor certain companies more than others and have them leave.

 

[VeeQ]

Guess the gov't gave them enough incentives, but that means the same will need to be extended to all other auto manufacturers or risk looking like they favor certain companies more than others and have them leave.

Not necessarily. Considering their extensive investments and time spent with the Sunderland plant, they're definitely going to be favoured for those reasons. If there's been no one else that has been so involved in the plant in X amount of years, they shouldn't receive the same treatment and leeway that Nissan does. My opinion at least lol.

 

[NissanDriver]

Well they need to offer that incentive to keep people employed, the income generated from those workers goes a long way in the communities they live in. It's bad enough that when production plants shut down so do small businesses surrounding them that serve those works, and that's just to start. Add to that what Britain is going through.

 

[VeeQ]

That is very true. It's all the multiplier effect at the end of the day.

The employees get paid and have benefits and what not, the shops around them have money coming in because the employees are spending their money, the shops are buying from bigger local suppliers, etc. etc. Keeps a nation, city, region moving along and developing.

Now flip all of that to the negative side of things from the beginning and what happens to the end party.

 

[NissanDriver]

Things in the EU just keep getting worse. Now there's a situation going on with Italy.


The more other companies leave the UK the more UK will push to keep Nissan and other large manufactures. Going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[NissanDriver]

Things in the EU just keep getting worse. Now there's a situation going on with Italy.


The more other companies leave the UK the more UK will push to keep Nissan and other large manufactures. Going to be interesting to see how this plays out.