Nissan unveil latest car built at Sunderland plant

Feb 11 2010 by William Green, The Journal

“As you know we are the biggest car plant in the UK in terms of cars produced.”

He added: “This will maintain 1,000 jobs in Sunderland. We normally talk about double that in the supply business.”

And Mr Mann expressed confidence that the new model would be as successful as the Qashqai, with 500,000 of models sold in the last three years.

“We believe that this will follow in its big brother’s footsteps,” said the top Nissan executive.

Praise for the Sunderland plant also came from Paul Wilcox, managing director of Nissan Motor GB, after it secured production of the Juke.

“It is a massive vote of confidence because in Nissan every project has got to go through a competition,” he said.

Mr Wilcox said the new car would bring new customers to Nissan and boost its market share, with the company expecting to sell around 20,000 Jukes in the UK alone ever year.

Prices set

PRICES for the new Juke are expected to be set at between £13,000 for the base model and £20,000 for the top sport’s version.

There will also be 1.5 diesel and 1.6 petrol engines available for the sporty-looking five door car, while a turbo-charged 1.6i engine will also go on sale.