PRESS RELEASE : Nissan triples investment in electric vehicle production in the UK [November 2023]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 24 November 2023.

Nissan is delivering up to £2 billion of new investment to produce two new electric vehicle models in Sunderland.

Nissan is delivering up to £2 billion of new investment to produce two new electric vehicle models in Sunderland – helping to put more zero emission vehicles on UK roads which will make travel more sustainable and affordable in the long term, the Prime Minister has announced today (Friday 24 November).

Nissan have said their direct investment of up to £1.12 billion to produce the two models will enable wider investment in infrastructure projects and the supply chain, including a new gigafactory, bringing a total new investment today of up to £2 billion.

This builds on the £1 billion electric vehicle hub announced by Nissan and their battery partner AESC in 2021, and brings total investment since 2021 to £3 billion, safeguarding the future of Britain’s largest car factory as we move away from petrol and diesel cars.

Today’s announcement doubles down on this with all-electric replacements for the Nissan Juke and Qashqai models in addition to the all-electric Leaf replacement announced in 2021, supporting the future of Nissan’s highly skilled 7,000 strong UK workforce as well as the 30,000 staff employed in the wider supply chain.

This investment further cements the UK’s position as a global leader in Electric Vehicle manufacturing, delivers on the Prime Minister’s priority of growing the economy and drives forward the UK’s commitment to net zero.

The Nissan Sunderland plant is a longstanding UK success story, having opened in 1986 and grown into one of Europe’s largest car plants with world leading productivity. Earlier this year, Nissan marked the milestone of building their 11 millionth vehicle at the Sunderland Plant since production started – meaning that, on average, a new car has been produced at the plant every two minutes, every hour of every day, for 37 years.

Today’s investment takes the total Nissan investment in the UK past £6 billion and follows Nissan’s confirmation that all its new cars in Europe from now will be fully electric, with its passenger cars across Europe expected to be 100% electric by 2030.

In addition, today we have confirmed £15 million funding has been awarded for a £30m collaborative project led by Nissan. It will strengthen the technical expertise and R&D zero emission vehicle capability of the Nissan Technical Centre (NTCE) in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, increasing opportunities for securing additional UK R&D investment in future vehicle models.

It comes ahead of the Global Investment Summit next week, where the Prime Minister is expected to host over 200 of the worlds CEOs and financiers – including the CEO of Nissan Makoto Uchida – to showcase the UK as world leading place to invest.

The summit is expected to raise billions of pounds of high value investment to create thousands of jobs across the UK, with a special focus on high tech sectors such as innovation, research and development.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

Nissan’s investment is a massive vote of confidence in the UK’s automotive industry, which already contributes a massive £71 billion a year to our economy. This venture will no doubt secure Sunderland’s future as the UK’s Silicon Valley for electric vehicle innovation and manufacturing.

Making the UK the best place to do business is at the heart of our economic plan. We will continue to back businesses like Nissan to expand and grow their roots in the UK every step of the way as we make the right long term decisions for a brighter future.

Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida said:

Exciting, electric vehicles are at the heart of our plans to achieve carbon neutrality. With electric versions of our core European models on the way, we are accelerating towards a new era for Nissan, for industry and for our customers.

The EV36Zero project puts our Sunderland plant, Britain’s biggest ever car factory, at the heart of our future vision. It means our UK team will be designing, engineering and manufacturing the vehicles of the future, driving us towards an all-electric future for Nissan in Europe.

Today’s announcement comes as a new Investment Zone was confirmed for North East England which is expected to create more than 4,000 new jobs over the first five years and leverage significant private investment including the new £2 billion investment announced today by Nissan.

Focusing on Advanced Manufacturing and Green Industries, the Investment Zone builds on the region’s key growth corridor the Arc of Innovation which runs from Northumberland down to Sunderland and Durham with opportunities along the Tyne Corridor and benefits felt across the wider region.

Nissan’s announcement today will provide a key anchor investment for the Investment Zone, which will provide £160 million of support including tax incentives, skills, development infrastructure and innovation funding over the next ten years – addressing barriers to growth, strengthening the local area and ensuring that the UK continues to win investment in the face of global competition.

At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced further measures to back businesses and remove barriers to investment. This includes making the Full Expensing scheme permanent so businesses can invest for less – delivering an effective permanent tax cut of £11 billion a year for businesses who invest in IT equipment, plant and machinery. The move is set to boost business investment by £14 billion and help grow the economy.

With the tax cut now permanent, the UK will continue to have both the lowest headline corporation tax rate in the G7 and the most generous capital allowances in the OECD group of major advanced economies, such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and Germany.  Since the introduction of the super deduction – the predecessor to full expensing – in 2021, investment in the UK has grown the fastest in the G7.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said:

Today’s news is an enormous vote of confidence in the British economy, just days after we confirmed the most generous investment tax reliefs in the Western world.

Nissan has a proud history in car manufacturing in Sunderland and their continued commitment to the UK shows how our support for business is getting results – helping create thousands of jobs and solidifying Britain’s place as the world’s 8th largest manufacturer.

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said:

The investment by Nissan in Sunderland shows once again that the Government’s plan for the automotive sector is working.

The forthcoming Advanced Manufacturing Plan will build on this deal and other recent big investment wins for the UK car industry, helping to support thousands of jobs and drive growth across the UK.

The automotive industry has a long, proud history in the UK, and a bright future. Supporting over 166,000 jobs and contributing £71 billion to our economy, it is integral to delivering on levelling up, net zero and helping to drive economic growth.

This announcement also follows other automotive success stories including Tata’s investment of over £4bn in a new 40 GWh gigafactory, BMW’s investment of £600m to build next generation MINI EVs in Oxford, Ford’s investment of £380 million in Halewood to make Electric Drive Units and Stellantis’ £100m investment in Ellesmere Port for EV van production.

Last week, the Chancellor announced that we’re making available £4.5 billion in strategic manufacturing sectors across the UK to unlock investment, support levelling up and enable the UK to seize growth opportunities through the transition to net zero. This includes making over £2 billion available to the automotive sector from 2025 for five years to support the manufacturing and development of zero emission vehicles, their batteries and supply chain – building on existing support.

The UK has already overtaken France to become the eighth-biggest manufacturing nation in the world in the most recent data. Taken together, our manufacturing industries now contribute £205 billion to the economy and are boosting employment in every region of the country, including over 300,000 jobs both in the North West and Yorkshire and The Humber.

The Business and Trade Secretary is also set to announce the publication of the government’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan which will set out our comprehensive offer to the UK’s manufacturing sector to continue to boost long term sustainability and prosperity.

The Department for Business and Trade will also shortly publish the UK’s first Battery Strategy, outlining the Government’s activity to achieve a globally competitive battery supply chain in the UK by 2030 that supports economic prosperity and the Net Zero transition.