Nissan has announced plans to close a production line at its Sunderland factory and cut 900 jobs in Europe as part of fresh restructuring efforts.
The Japanese manufacturer said it would combine production from two lines into one at the North East site, which makes vehicles including the Leaf, Juke and Qashqai.
While there will be no impact on the number of manufacturing posts at the Sunderland plant, which employs almost 6,000 people, Nissan said 900 white-collar posts are to go out of a European workforce of 9,300.
Nissan has been grappling with the sluggish takeup of electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe, together with slumping sales in China.
Pricing pressures in the US have also hurt profits, together with soaring energy prices and labour costs, leading the group to order 20,000 job cuts worldwide, including plant closures.
The latest cull – which a Nissan spokesman said was unrelated to the economic impact of the Iran war – will affect workers in France and Spain, as well as the UK.
Measures are likely to see the partial closure of a Barcelona warehousing operation and a retreat from producing cars directly for Nordic markets.
A spokesman confirmed the changes and said Nissan was “taking decisive actions to enhance performance and create a leaner, more resilient business that adapts quickly to market changes”.
They added that the Sunderland production lines were being merged “as we assess future opportunities to secure full plant utilisation”.
That could include vehicles for other brands, amid reports that the company had held talks with rival carmakers including China’s Chery, which also sells cars under the Omoda and Jaecoo brand and has captured a 6pc share of the UK market
The spokesman said: “We are exploring opportunities, including with third parties, but have nothing to announce at this time.”
Nissan’s UK sales fell more than 10pc in the first four months of the year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The Sunderland site, which opened in 1986, is Britain’s biggest car plant and currently makes the Leaf, the world’s first mass-market EV, launched in 2009. It will also produce the new electric version of the Juke, due to go on sale next year.
Nissan last year announced plans to eliminate around 250 office and supervisory jobs at the Wearside site through a voluntary redundancy scheme.
The announcement came as carmakers in the UK said they expected to sell fewer electric vehicles (EVs) this year than previously forecast as soaring petrol prices from the Iran war fail to boost demand.
The SMMT, the trade association, cut its expectations for fully electric vehicle sales in 2026 after a subdued start to the year.
While it increased its overall UK sales forecast by about 45,000 to just under 2.1 million vehicles, the SMMT said EVs would claim a smaller-than-expected market share.
It trimmed its EV market share expectations from 28.5pc to 26.8pc, a drop of around 22,000 vehicles compared to its earlier estimates.
The SMMT said that rising petrol prices, which should incentivise drivers to switch to electric cars, were being undercut by persistently high charging costs and worries over looming pay-per-mile taxes .
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, announced plans to introduce a 3p-per-mile tax on electric cars in her November 2025 Budget. It is expected to come into force on April 1 2028.
The SMMT said: “The transition to EVs continues at pace but has not matched earlier expectations. Whilst rising petrol prices could drive up interest, high energy costs, concerns about the new electric vehicle excise duty pence-per-mile charge for EVs and higher borrowing costs could undermine demand.”
At 26.8pc market share, carmakers’ EV sales would fall far short of Labour’s mandated zero-emissions target for new vehicles, which stands at 33pc for 2026.
The SMMT said it still expected “strong growth [in demand] but below ZEV (zero emission vehicle) mandate ambitions”.
There were 149,247 new car registrations in April, according to the SMMT, an increase of 24pc on the previous year. Electric vehicle registrations climbed by 59.1pc – or 39,084 – while 20,597 plug-in hybrids were sold, up 46.4pc. In total there are now two million registered electric vehicles in the UK.
The SMMT figures showed sales of Teslas climbed 62pc in April, with 831 vehicles sold. Sales of China’s BYD, including hybrid Seals and electric Dolphins, doubled in the month to 5,059.
The cut to forecasts comes after trade groups representing EV drivers and the charging industry wrote to Ms Reeves to warn her planned 3p-per-mile tax threatened to cost the Exchequer billions of pounds.
The Treasury has been warned that it faces a hit of as much as £4.8bn by 2028 if drivers refrain from buying new EVs and stick with their old vehicles.
Beama, a lobby group representing infrastructure companies, said the policy was a “fiscal own goal” that would slow down adoption and cost the UK economy more than it would make in taxes.
The letter warned similar charges had prompted a 75pc drop in new EV sales in Iceland and a 50pc fall in New Zealand.
