Electric sparks flying at Nissan

The boss of Nissan’s Sunderland plant said he was confident it had done all it could to attract electric vehicle manufacturing to the region - but said it was still in a race with two other European countries to land the work.

Trevor Mann, Nissan’s senior vice president for manufacturing in Europe, was speaking at One North East’s annual review meeting in Durham’s Radisson Blu Hotel.

He said that since last year, when Nissan announced a £200m electric vehicle battery plant in Sunderland, the company was a step closer to securing the electric car manufacturing plant, which could create 1,000 new jobs.

“We are 90% there. We are hoping to bring some good news to the region,” he said. “We are confident we have done all we can. But Nissan still has a lot to do, business is still very tough and no final decision has yet been made.”

He said the decision may not be taken until next year.

ONE Chief Executive Alan Clarke was more optimistic that a decision on whether to build the new Leaf car would be taken by Christmas.

“For the whole region this is one of the biggest decisions in some years so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

“You can see the logic of having a battery plant and making the cars next to where it is. It was emphasised to us that securing the battery plant was a key step in the right direction.”

Asked how the regional development agency could help swing the decision in the North-east’s favour, Mr Clarke said: “We can help Nissan with dialogue with central government - with the Department of Business in particular and brokering discussions with the Prime Minister and Lord Mandelson.

“We are also leading the low carbon economic area when it comes to training and skills, test facilities and business policy for the supply chain.”

The Japanese car giant unveiled plans to build a 120,000 sq ft plant for electric car batteries adjacent to its Washington factory, at the same time confirming it would build a new electric car at one of its global operations.

Meanwhile the Chinese have got their pedal to the metal with a super-battery electric car that does 250 miles on a single charge.

The £30,000 E6, by manufacturer BYD, could revolutionise the electric car world if claims about its performance are true.
Source:[nebusiness.co.uk]