Nissan to close UK factory line

Nissan is planning to shut one of two production lines at its plant in Sunderland, England, and slash 900 jobs across Europe to cut costs.

The carmaker says the measures will create “a leaner, more resilient” operation across Europe that’s able to quickly to market changes.

The cuts will focus on white-collar and warehouse roles, says a spokesman for Nissan Europe where it has about 9,300 staff. 

Nissan builds the latest-generation Leaf, Qashqai and Juke small SUV for Europe at the factory in Sunderland, north-east England.

The plant’s output has nearly halved in the past decade to 273,174 units in 2025 with the marque shedding market share in across the continent to competitors, including Chinese newcomers. By comparison, it built 507,430 vehicles there in 2016.

Nissan’s sales in Europe were 89,890 in the first quarter, down from 100,174 during the same period of last year.

The company is now looking into opportunities to bring in an outside manufacturer to take over production line number one to boost production there. Chinese brands Dongfeng and Chery have been linked to possibly making cars there. 

The Sunderland factory is one of the UK’s biggest car plants. Honda closed its plant in Swindon in 2021, while Jaguar Land Rover stopped making cars at its Castle Bromwich facility in 2024. Last year, built 717,000 units were built in the country, down from 1.7 million in 2016.

Nissan’s cost-cutting measures also include a partial closure of a parts warehouse in Barcelona, and mothballing sales offices in Nordic countries and shifting to a distribution model managed by importer partners.

About 500 people in Spain work in the areas targeted by the lay-offs although the final figure will likely be lower, reports Automotive News.

Ivan Espinosa, chief executive of Nissan, has launched a major turnaround plan to restore profitability after heavy losses, including closing seven plants globally and reducing the company’s workforce by 15 around per cent.