Nissan's car plant in Sunderland has survived a sweeping cost-cutting overhaul by the automotive giant that will see its Barcelona factory close with 2,800 job losses.
The Japanese car giant was plotting a shake-up of operations in Europe leading to some reports last week that Sunderland could be a target. The company today confirmed it was closing a major plant in Barcelona with the loss of nearly 3,000 jobs.
It will also close plants in Indonesia and focus south Asian production in Thailand. Sunderland has around 6,000 employees.
The move is part of a three-year shake-up to slim down Nissan. Production will fall by 20% from seven million vehicles a year to 5.4 million vehicles.
Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida said: “I will make every effort to return Nissan to a growth path.”
The company was plunged into scandal last year by the arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn amid accusations of a boardroom fight. Ghosn was arrested on financial misconduct charges, which he denied, and kept behind bars for months .
He subsequently escaped from prison and fled to Lebanon where he currently resides.
Nissan made a 40 billion yen operating loss for the year ending 2019 from a 318 billion yen profit last year,
