New contracts awarded as demand for Nissans increases

May 9 2009 by Paul James, The Journal

Trevor Mann of Nissan

NISSAN yesterday announced 150 temporary jobs were being created after reporting a rise in demand from the continent.

The car giant’s Washington plant will need more temporary staff – employed on four-month contracts – to manufacture around 14,000 extra cars, starting in June.

Senior Vice President Trevor Mann said economic conditions meant the market remained depressed, but the short-term effect of scrappage schemes in Europe had boosted demand.

They allow car owners to get rid of old vehicles in return for money off new models.

The Sunderland plant manufactures the Micra, Note and Qashqai cars and the new staff will work on both the plant’s production lines.

The firm said last month it experienced an annual sales boost of 31% in France, 21% in Italy and 9% in Germany.

Nissan said the UK scrappage scheme, which begins later this month, will provide a further boost.

Mr Mann, Nissan senior vice president for manufacturing in Europe, said: “The impact of the financial crisis is continuing and our 2009 full-year forecasts still reflect a depressed market overall.

“However, this short term spike in demand, fuelled by a number of scrappage schemes introduced across Europe, is clearly a very welcome boost to business during what is a highly challenging period for all car makers.”

Head of policy at the North East Chamber of Commerce, Ross Smith, said: “This is obviously good news for the North East. It is welcome to see the short-term support for the automotive industry from Governments across Europe is having an impact and we hope that the announcement in last month’s Budget will have a similar impact here.