[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/nissan-sunderland-manufacturing-plant\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/nissan-sunderland-manufacturing-plant\/","headline":"Nissan Sunderland Manufacturing Plant","name":"Nissan Sunderland Manufacturing Plant","description":"Nissan Motor Manufacturing Sunderland \u2013 the Largest Plant in the UK. Nissan\u2019s Sunderland manufacturing plant is in the news again; more often than not it\u2019s usually positive news that emanates from the vast plant in the north east of England \u2013 but not this time. Nissan has stated that the new X-Trail will not now be built in the UK after initially announcing that it would in 2016. Currently, the plant builds the Qashqai, Juke, LEAF, Infiniti Q30 and Infiniti […]","datePublished":"2019-02-12","dateModified":"2019-02-12","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/author\/isabelle-lawrence\/#Person","name":"Isabelle Lawrence","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/author\/isabelle-lawrence\/","identifier":30,"description":"Max Wheeler is a leading motoring journalist and classic car specialist at Smart Motoring, renowned for his sharp insight and infectious passion for all things automotive. With years of experience covering motoring news, supercars, and the enduring legacy of classic cars, Max brings stories to life with style and authority. Whether it\u2019s the roar of a Lamborghini, the elegance of an Aston Martin DB5, or the cultural impact of vintage motoring icons, he delivers expert commentary that inspires enthusiasts and collectors alike. Dedicated to celebrating the heritage and future of driving, Max Wheeler is your trusted voice for classic car news and beyond.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d331506e3c530b5ec4930c30a01ed8cc29b0537227573ae5da98f559e681401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d331506e3c530b5ec4930c30a01ed8cc29b0537227573ae5da98f559e681401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Smart Motoring","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/smart-motoring_news_logo_g-e1765846726493.webp","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/smart-motoring_news_logo_g-e1765846726493.webp","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Nissan-Sunderland-Plant-from-air-feature.jpg","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Nissan-Sunderland-Plant-from-air-feature.jpg","height":520,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/nissan-sunderland-manufacturing-plant\/","about":["LATEST CAR NEWS"],"wordCount":1074,"keywords":["nissan","Nissan Motors","Nissan Sunderland Plant"],"articleBody":"Nissan Motor Manufacturing Sunderland \u2013 the Largest Plant in the UK.Nissan\u2019s Sunderland manufacturing plant is in the news again; more often than not it\u2019s usually positive news that emanates from the vast plant in the north east of England \u2013 but not this time. Nissan has stated that the new X-Trail will not now be built in the UK after initially announcing that it would in 2016.Currently, the plant builds the Qashqai, Juke, LEAF,Infiniti Q30 and Infiniti QX30. The X-Trail had previously been built in Japansince its launch in 2000, and will now continue to be built in Japan. Why?Well, it\u2019s hard to avoid the somewhat heated debate that\u2019s currently going onamid Brexit looming large on the horizon. Though Nissan has, rather generally,said that Brexit uncertainty is affecting businesses and not helping \u201ccompanieslike ours plan for the future.\u201dThat uncertainty is quite possibly illustrated by Nissan\u2019s decision to reduce the initial upfront costs and logistics of moving an entire vehicle\u2019s manufacturing base, and simply keep on manufacturing the X-Trail where it has always been built. One thing is for certain, the UK new car industry has joined the motorcycle industry in hitting a bit of a low point; new car sales have dropped by 7% – the largest decrease since 2008, with falling consumer confidence being suggested as the reason. To illustrate this clearer, in 2018, 2.37 million new cars were sold, which is 174,000 less than in 2017 (according to SMMT figures).When I worked as a manager within Nissan, I was fortunateenough to be invited up to the Nissan Sunderland Plant on several occasions,mostly meetings, but sometimes \u2013 and initially \u2013 for the factory tour. Whatcould be less fun than a tour of a factory, we thought \u2013 instantly picturingsomething filthy and Dickensian. Yet nothing is further from the truth. ANissan factory tour is an eye-opening and enjoyable experience.The plant opened in 1984, built on the former site of RAF Usworth in Tyne and Wear. By 1992 the total investment in NMUK was \u00a3900 million – by far the biggest Japanese investment in Europe \u2013 and the size of the plant was 799 acres (3.23 km2 or just over a mile squared) situated conveniently just 5 miles from the Port of Tyne. Today, the plant is simply huge at 362,000m2 (around 50 football pitches) and is the UK\u2019s biggest car plant, churning out 1,300 motor vehicles a day.Around 7,000 people work at the plant and the support structureincludes a further 40,000 jobs across the UK \u2013 and this doesn\u2019t begin to coverthe companies that work in unison with the plant from around the globe. At thispoint, you begin to understand why there is so much passion and fear when acompany the size of NMUK decides to change its mind, even though it\u2019s notactually pulling any vehicles but simply not adding any new models to the production line.When we first arrived at the Nissan Sunderland plant, my first reaction was to think that this must be what it would be like to be coach driven into Area 51 in the Nevada Desert; the scale was like nothing I\u2019d ever seen before. The factories I was used to seeing were buildings within a town \u2013 this was a town itself.\u00a0 The next thing we noted (instantly sweeping away thatDickensian image of a factory) was just how clean the plant was – all shiny andnew looking, with every part moved on a giant conveyor belt system to where itneeded to be. In short, the tour was fantastic. It was stressed to us that onelittle hitch and the entire production line prior to the problem had to stop \u2013and this cost money. We saw workers ready to take over as one shift started andanother ended, like a relay team. Nothing, it seemed, would stop the constantmotion of the plant. This is not the only rotation principle in operation, as eachworker is trained to be able to do 3 different jobs within the factory \u2013 notonly does this avoid monotony, but it also helps in staffing emergencies shouldany arise. Despite being so huge, the plant doesn\u2019t build everything itself and still relies on parts coming in from across the UK and abroad, where affiliated manufacturers and fellow Nissan factories provide parts to keep the Sunderland production line rolling. We were told that timing is crucial here \u2013 parts could be designated to arrive in port for use that very day.\u00a0 One of the most curious things was being made aware of aseries of small coloured lines which indicated the paths for small robots tospeedily ferry small parts from one section to another \u2013 we were joviallywarned to watch out for these and not obstruct their path\u2026 Lunch was in a largerefectory, where the workers and managers alike all sat together to eat; partof the Japanese culture of striving to maintain equality among the workers. Thefactory also operates under \u2018Kaizen\u2019, a Japanese word that roughly translatesto \u2018continuously improving\u2019. This encourages all workers to seek out and makeimprovements \u2013 however tiny \u2013 to the workflow for the benefit of the wholeprocess. It\u2019s a very similar idea to the one that Team Sky embraced to getitself to the level of being serial Tour de France winners \u2013 no improvement istoo small.It has been said that if the Nissan Sunderland Plant was suddenly not there one day, that it would be akin to the closing of the mines during Thatcher\u2019s time in power, such is the impact that it would have on the working community of the North East. Again, this gives a bit of perspective as to why Nissan not building the X-Trail in the UK raises so much concern. While it might appear to be a little hysterical in some quarters of the press, having stood on the open windswept land of the massive factory town that is the NMUK Nissan Sunderland Plant, I can say that it does give you a different, and sympathetic perspective compared to those that have never witnessed the size of this place with their own eyes.If this has made you curious to experience a NMUK factorytour yourself (the tour is normally conducted in two sessions, one in themorning and the second part after lunch) then I can highly recommend you do so.Images: v2g.co.uk, carmagazine.co.uk , insideevs.com "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Latest News","item":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nissan Sunderland Manufacturing Plant","item":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/nissan-sunderland-manufacturing-plant\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]