Nissan get £380m loan to go green with electric car development

Apr 8 2009 by William Green, The Journal

HOPES are rising that the North East will lead the world in developing green cars after Nissan was handed £380m to develop the technology.

European Union bank chiefs yesterday approved the massive loan to be split between the company’s Sunderland plant and its factory in Spain.

Around half of the loan could be used to build a "family" of electric cars in Washington, securing up to 4,500 jobs across the North East.

Delighted MPs and business chiefs said the move could create new jobs and put the region "on the map" in terms of developing and building low-energy vehicles.

The vote of confidence in the region’s car industry will also be a morale booster after 1,200 workers at Nissan’s local plant were axed and jobs lost in the supply chain amid a global sales slump.

Bosses at the European Investment Bank – the EU’s long-term lending bank – also approved a £340m loan to Jaguar Land Rover to develop more green vehicles.

The loans, which will be guaranteed by the Brtitish Government, are part of a £2.3bn package for the country’s motor industry announced by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson earlier this year.

Fraser Kemp, Labour MP for Houghton and Washington East, said: "The North East has been at the forefront of manufacturing and technological advance.

"I believe the announcement is great news and will help keep the North East at the cutting edge of manufacturing in future."

Durham City MP Roberta Blackman-Woods, assistant to Regional Minister Nick Brown, said: "This should help put us on the map for the development and then manufacturing of low energy vehicles."