Nissan set to cancel plans for new UK EV factory

Less than 18 months after it announced it would open an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in the UK, it appears Nissan has put its plans on ice.

Last January, it was announced that the Japanese carmaker’s subsidiary JATCO (a supplier of CVT and automatic transmissions) would make EV powertrains in a new facility in Sunderland, Britain.

Nissan has yet to issue formal communications confirming the decision, with reporting of the factory’s axing coming via Nikkei business daily over the weekend. It had been expected that the factory would produce up to 340,000 EV powertrains annually.

The factory appears to be a casualty of the brand’s decision to reduce its number of factories worldwide from 17 down to 10. 

Multiple outlets have reported that the decision comes amid Nissan’s slow electric vehicle sales in Europe. Another potential influence behind the call could be an increase in momentum behind Nissan’s Chinese operations — namely its partnership with Dongfeng.

Nissan unveiled the new NX8 last month; a model produced by Dongfeng Nissan and expected to be rolled out to numerous western markets in the coming years. The joint venture’s N6 and N7 electric sedans are also tipped for wide distribution. 

In our part of the world, the most prominent Chinese Nissan is the Frontier Pro. The plug-in hybrid pick-up is expected to be announced for Nissan’s Australian and New Zealand line-ups imminently, as an extension of the Navara range.

Nissan’s existing Sunderland factory produces the Qashqai, Juke, and the all-new third-generation Leaf. The latest iteration of Nissan’s most well-known EV had originally been slated for New Zealand launch, but this was called off earlier this year.