Nissan unveil latest car built at Sunderland plant

Feb 11 2010 by William Green, The Journal

CAR giant Nissan last night unveiled its latest model to be built in Sunderland at a special launch in Paris.

The eye-catching Juke is the baby brother to the wildly successful Qashqai model, also built in Sunderland, and will start rolling off the production line in August.

The uniquely-styled car has the same “cross-over” theme as the Qashqai, and Nissan executives are confident it will catch the public’s attention as an alternative to the traditional small hatchback.

Around 100,000 of the vehicles will be built every year at its world-beating plant in the North East for export across Europe.

The Juke represents a vote of confidence in the North East, with thousands of jobs secured and Nissan investing £60m in its local plant and maintaining its vital contribution to the regional economy of several hundred million pounds a year.

Last night, that was underlined with hundreds of journalists and senior Nissan executives gathering to see the global launch of the Juke at a military base in Paris.

Speaking at the event, Trevor Mann, senior vice president for manufacturing, Europe said: “Today is a celebration of the fact that we have got another car that supports the Nissan brand overall and for the North East region it continues to support the local economy and the workforce in the Sunderland plant.