Japanese automotive company Nissan Motor has commenced production of its new Nissan Note at its Sunderland Plant in the UK.
The company had invested GBP125m in this car manufacturing plant earlier for this expansion. It also received a GBP9.3m grant from the UK Government's Regional Growth Fund.
Nissan Europe manufacturing, purchasing and supply chain management senior vice president John Martin said that the new Nissan Note is giving mainstream B-segment customers an unprecedented combination of design, technology and safety features which up to now have only been available in premium brands.
"This investment is further endorsement of our Sunderland Plant, which is now an international benchmark for productivity and quality as a result of the hard work and consistently high performance by the management and workforce," Martin added.
In addition to vehicle assembly, the new plant will be responsible for axle production, cylinder head casting, camshaft machining and engine assembly for the Nissan Note.
The company claims that its dealers have more than 14,000 pre-orders for the Nissan Note from across the Europe since the order books opened in July.
UK Business Minister Michael Fallon said: "It provides a very welcome boost to their exceptional workforce, the North East economy and the country."
This new Nissan Note is responsible for 2,000 new jobs in the UK automotive industry, including 400 staff at Nissan's workforce at Sunderland, taking the number of British jobs supported by Nissan to more than 35,000.
