Nissan to cut hundreds of jobs in Sunderland
Hundreds of workers at Nissan's Sunderland plant will lose their jobs.There are fears that employees among the 7,000 strong workforce, will be laid off following a decline in demand for diesel cars. Around a quarter of the cars made at the site, run on diesel. Nissan has said they will speak to staff about leaving the company on a voluntary basis.
Nissan said in a statement: “As we make the operational changes required to support this, we will be managing a planned short-term reduction in powertrain supply and plant volumes at NMUK (Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK) in line with our 2018 Business Plan.
“We are now discussing these operational changes with our employees.”
It’s thought that several hundred people will be made redundant at the plant. Around 7,000 workers are currently employed at the Sunderland site which builds the Juke and Qashqai models, as well as the latest generation of the all-electric Leaf. Sales of new diesel cars have been falling in the UK lately, with latest data showing a drop of a third compared to 2017. This is due in part to a tax rise on new diesel vehicles and confusion caused by a government announcement that sales of all new diesel and petrol cars and vans would be banned by 2040.
