Japanese carmaker Nissan plans to merge two production lines into one and cuts 900 jobs

Nissan has announced plans to streamline its operations in Europe, including cutting around 900 jobs and merging production lines at its UK plant in Sunderland.

The company said it will combine two production lines at the Sunderland facility, where the Leaf, Juke and Qashqai models are built. It clarified that this change will not result in huge job losses at the plant, but will trim down a small number of UK-based office roles (though the estimated figure is 900) as part of broader European cuts.

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The planned reduction represents about 10 per cent of Nissan’s European workforce. The restructuring also includes closing part of its warehouse operations in Barcelona and shifting to vehicle imports for Nordic markets.

Nissan said the changes are part of its “RE: Nissan” recovery plan, aimed at making the business more efficient and better able to respond to market conditions. The company has started discussions with employees across Europe as it looks to simplify its structure and improve profitability.

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At Sunderland, the move to a single production line means one line will remain unused. This could be offered to another carmaker to use, helping improve capacity utilisation at the site, which is currently operating below its full potential.

A spokesperson from Nissan said, “We have also announced that we will consolidate production from two lines to one at our Sunderland plant as we assess future opportunities to secure full plant utilisation." 

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Nissan has reportedly held talks with several companies about this opportunity, including Chery, which owns the Omoda and Jaecoo brands. Chery has been expanding its presence in the UK and is already preparing to assemble vehicles at a former Nissan plant in Barcelona.

While no agreement has been confirmed, the discussions indicate Nissan is exploring ways to make better use of its European manufacturing assets.