Nissan boss says building cars in UK too expensive

A senior Nissan boss has warned that the UK is "not a competitive place to be building cars".

Nissan's Alan Johnson told MPs that the Sunderland factory "pays more for its electricity than any other Nissan plant in the world".

A late shift at the Wearside plant was closed in February, but no jobs were lost after workers were moved to other lines.

Mr Johnson, senior vice president for manufacturing for Nissan's Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania operations, urged the government to support the automotive sector.

He said: "It is energy costs, it is the cost of everything involved in the cost of labour, training. It is the supplier base or lack of. All sorts of different issues.

"Ultimately, the UK is not a competitive place to be building cars today."

Nissan announced last year it would be cutting about 9,000 jobs worldwide after financial results for the first half of 2024 revealed its operating profit had plummeted by £1.59bn.

About 6,000 people are employed at the Sunderland plant.

It was confirmed in February that a late shift on one of the factory's production lines would be closed, but no jobs were lost after about 400 affected workers were switched onto other lines to "maximise efficiency".

At Tuesday's hearing of the House of Commons' Business and Trade Committee, Mr Johnson called for more to be done to incentivise the sale and production of electric vehicles in the UK.

He welcomed a relaxation of regulations on Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs) announced by Sir Keir Starmer.

The Nissan executive also reassured MPs that the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs on the Sunderland plant was "small", though the company as a whole was "impacted significantly".

UK imports to the US are now charged a 10% tariff – with higher 25% rates for cars, steel and aluminium.

A North East Combined Authority meeting heard last week that road vehicles and components account for 30% of the North East's exports across the world.

However, less than 6% were exported to the USA – leaving the region "less exposed" than other areas.

Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.