The car manufacturer is closing seven of its 17 global factories but could improve utilization in the UK
- Nissan’s Sunderland plant is underutilized, operating at less than half its capacity.
- The potential collaboration with Dongfeng aims to boost the factory’s profitability.
- The company’s recent cost-cutting measures include closing seven global factories.
A few months ago, Nissan seemed convinced that teaming up with Honda was its ticket to survival. Fast forward, and that deal has fizzled out, leaving Nissan scrambling to announce a slew of cost-cutting measures in an attempt to stay afloat. Now, the company is considering a rather surprising move, by sharing its international factories with its Chinese partner, Dongfeng.
In an effort to streamline operations, Nissan is shutting down seven of its 17 global factories, but one of its most crucial sites, the Sunderland plant in the UK, is staying open. According to company head Ivan Espinosa, there’s potential for Dongfeng to start building vehicles there. On top of that, Nissan has plans to ramp up its electric vehicle production in the UK.
Read: Nissan’s New Electric Sedan Is As Big As A Maxima, Cheap As A Versa
“We are quite open to collaborate with them,” Espinosa said during a recent Financial Times conference. “Everything is on the table. We could leverage some of our joint work outside of China, inviting them to come into our production ecosystems.”
As noted by The Guardian, Nissan’s Sunderland plant is currently operating well under capacity. Last year, a total of 282,000 cars were built there, despite the site have the ability to produce up to 600,000 vehicles annually. In addition to adding more jobs, allowing Dongfeng to build vehicles at the site would help boost the factory’s profitability.
Nissan and Dongfeng already collaborate on Chinese-market vehicles in Wuhan, but Espinosa didn’t drop any hints about which specific models might roll off the UK line or when that might happen.
Further helping the ailing Japanese automaker in the UK is a new EV battery site in the area. Set to be opened by its battery partner Envision AESC, the £1 billion (~$1.3 billion) plant will be the largest car battery production site in the country and supply cells to three of Nissan’s EVs.
While the brand is remaining committed to British production, it wants government help. Espinosa has called on the local government to provide it with support, particularly for energy costs, which are much higher in the UK than some of its other factories.
