Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd , or NMUK is a car manufacturing plant in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom. It is owned and operated by the European division of Japanese car manufacturer Nissan. It is the largest car plant in the United Kingdom, and the most productive in Europe. It has been active since 1986.
Geography
NMUK is located in the Washington area of Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, in North East England, at the junction of the A19 and A1231 Sunderland Highway trunk roads. The factory is adjacent to the Nissan Distribution Centre (NDS) and a number of related suppliers. The landscaped NMUK site incorporates conservation areas, such as ponds, lakes and woodland.
In 2005, six 200 ft (61 m) wind turbines were installed at the edge of the site at a cost of £1.1 million. It was expected up to 10% of the plant's overall power needs could be met through these turbines, eliminating 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. This impact was temporarily reduced as, in December 2005, one of the turbines caught fire and was destroyed. This caused disruption on local roads and forced the closure of the other turbines for a number of weeks. The turbine was replaced in November 2006.
The Nissan Technical Centre for Europe (NTCE) was located on site until the late 1990s, when it was relocated to Cranfield in Bedfordshire.
In February 1984, Nissan and the Government signed an agreement to build a car plant in the UK. The following month, a 799-acre (3.23 km 2 ) greenfield site in Sunderland was chosen. As an incentive, the land was offered to Nissan at agricultural prices; around £1,800 per acre. The North East region of England had recently undergone a period of industrial decline, with the closure of most of the shipyards on the Tyne and Wear, and the closure of many coal mines on the once prosperous Durham coalfield. The high unemployment this caused meant Nissan had a large, eager, manufacturing-skilled workforce to draw upon. The site, once the Sunderland Airfield (formerly RAF Usworth), was close to large ports on the Tyne and Tees, within easy driving distance of the international Newcastle Airport, and close to major trunk roads such as the A1 and A19. The established company became known as Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd, or NMUK. A ground breaking ceremony took place in July, and work began on the site in November 1984, by building contractors Sir Robert McAlpine.
One of Nissan's more controversial demands during the talks was that the plant be single-union. This was unprecedented in UK industry. In April 1985, an agreement was reached with the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU). Critics argue that this means the plant workforce is weakly represented. Nissan argues that as a result of the single-union agreement, its workforce is much more flexible than at other plants, and it points to the fact that not a single minute has been lost to industrial disputes at the factory.
In December 1985, McAlpine handed over the completed factory building to Nissan for the installation of machinery and factory components. The building phase had been completed ahead of schedule. In July 1986, phase 1 of the plant construction was completed, and the first Bluebird rolled off the production line. That Bluebird is currently shown at the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens. In September 1986, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher officially opened the plant alongside Nissan president Yutaka Kume. At this point, the factory consisted of a Body, Paint and Final Assembly Line. In February 1987, NMUK became the sole supplier of Bluebirds to the UK market. In the same month, work on phase 2 of the factory began. In 1988, Plastics moulding and Engine assembly began. In May 1990, phase 2 of the plant construction was completed. The Bluebird model was retired and the Primera went into production. In 1991, NMUK turned its first profit of £18.4 million, and in April, NMUK was awarded 'British Manufacturer' status by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
In August 1992, production of the Micra began as the plant began to produce two models simultaneously. The Micra was an instant success; in August it was voted "European Car of the Year 1993".
The Primera model was revised in 1995, and production began in January 1996, with the first customers taking delivery of their cars approximately seven months later.
In January 2000, NMUK became a three-model plant for the first time with the production of the MK2 Almera. This remained in production until November 2006, when it was axed in favour of the Japanese-built Versa - which, as of March 2008, has yet to go on sale in the UK. Meanwhile, production of the Nissan Qashqai crossover began at NMUK on 4 December 2006 on the production line left vacant following the Almera's demise.
The Primera underwent another model change, and NMUK won the contract to continue building the car. Production began in December 2001. The model is still in production as of 2008, but was withdrawn from the British market in late 2006 due to falling sales. Its successor is due in 2008, but Nissan has yet to confirm whether this car will be sold in the UK, or even where it will be built. At one stage, it was suggested that the Primera would be built alongside the Renault Laguna in France, but these have yet to be confirmed. It has also been rumoured that the new Primera will be based on the Nissan Altima, though the truth about the car's name and production facility remains unconfirmed.
NMUK won the contract to build the revised Micra, and production began in November 2002. Production of the first car was witnessed in a ceremony attended by Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. When Ghosn took over the CEO position, he remarked the plant as one of the most productive of all plants, therefore saving it from closure.
NMUK won the contract to build the 'Coupe & Cabriolet' (C+C) edition of the Micra in December 2003; production began in late 2005.
In late 2004 NMUK announced it had won the contract to built the Note, a 5-door hatchback. and a short time later in February 2005, Nissan announced the production version of the quirkily-styled 4x4 crossover Qashqai concept car would be built at NMUK. Note production began in January 2006.
This increased production meant that by 2007, NMUK would be producing over 400,000 vehicle per year, up from the 2003 figure of 330,000.
Since the building of NMUK was announced in 1984, over £2.1 billion has been invested in the site.
The Qashqai went into production at NMUK in December 2006, with sales beginning three months later. In its first year, Qashqai sold nearly 150,000 units across Europe, with a back-order of 54,000 vehicles still to produce. Although due to poor quality in building the Qashqai at the Sunderland plant, a decision was made to cease making the Japanese export version of the car, and move production to Japan. It was said that poor trim quality, leaking windows and other various quality issues contributed to this.
On the 8th January 2009, Nissan announced it was to shed 1200 jobs from the factory due to the automotive industry crisis of 2008. This will reduce staffing numbers from 3,800 to 2,600. The 1200 jobs lost are due to the third shift on line1 being suspended and is made up of 800 temps and 400 permanent staff, this returns the plant to the 2 shift manning levels that were in place prior to August 2008.
Milestones and awards
- Feb 1984 - Nissan agrees a deal with the British government to build a car plant in Britain.
- Mar 1984 - A former airfield just outside Sunderland is chosen as the site of Nissan's British operations.
- Nov 1984 - Work begins on the new NMUK car factory.
- Dec 1985 - Construction work of the factory is completed and the builders hand over the keys to Nissan.
- Jul 1986 - Phase 1 of the factory is completed and the first Nissan Bluebird rolls off the production line.
- Feb 1989 - 100,000th Bluebird is built, two years ahead of projected date.
- Jul 1990 - Bluebird production ends and Primera production begins.
- Aug 1992 - Micra production reaches the Sunderland plant after a decade in Japan.
- Jan 1995 - one millionth vehicle is built.
- Dec 1998 - two millionth vehicle is built.
- Sep 1999 - both one millionth Micra and Primera are built.
- Jan 2000 - Almera production is transferred to NMUK after five years in Japan.
- Jun 2005 - the four millionth vehicle is built.
- Jan 2006 - Production of the Note compact MPV begins.
- Nov 2006 - Production of the Almera ends.
- Dec 2006 - Production of the Qashqai crossover begins.
- Jun 2008 - the five millionth vehicle is built.
- 1986 to 2004 - World's Market Research Centre identifies NMUK as the most productive car plant in Europe.
- 1998 to 2004 - SMMT names NMUK as the biggest UK car plant replacing Rover's Longbridge plant.
- 1999 to 2004 - According to SMMT, NMUK is top UK car exporter (in 2004, 1 in 5 cars exported from the UK were built at NMUK).
Vehicles
- 1986 to 1990 - Bluebird (GP) - 187,178 units built.
- 1990 to 1996 - Primera (EC) - 606,887 units built.
- 1992 to 2002 - Micra (DC) - 1.3 million units built.
- 1996 to 2001 - Primera (EQ) - 500,000 units built.
- 2000 to 2006 - Almera (HS) - 450,000 units built (to date).
- 2001 to 2006 - Primera (ED) - 165,000 units built (to date).
- 200
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