Sunderland plant begins Juke production

Nissan has announced the start of production of its new Juke at its Sunderland plant, following a £100m investment.

Designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK, the new Juke has been developed specifically for European markets, with Sunderland the only production location for this second-generation compact crossover.

Nissan Europe chairman, Gianluca de Ficchy, said, ‘The new Juke represents a further £100m investment in our Sunderland plant and is designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK for European customers.

‘Thirty-five years ago Nissan decided to create a plant in the UK to serve our European markets. Ten million vehicles later, Sunderland is the biggest UK car plant in history and the all-new Juke is the most connected Nissan car. With more than 35,000 jobs supported by Nissan in the UK, I would like to thank our experienced and skilled teams in Paddington, Cranfield and Sunderland, and our wider supply base, for their efforts in bringing this all-new model to life.’

In addition to more than 5,000 hours of training, the factory has required new investment upgrades. This includes more than 27 new die sets, while four new spraybooths have been built to accommodate the choice of 15 different two-tone body colour combinations.

Steve Marsh, Nissan vice president for manufacturing in the UK, said, ‘We are thrilled to see the Juke in production. Our million Juke fans across Europe will be able to see it on the roads very soon. Juke is a big part of our plant’s heritage, so it is a proud moment to see the new model rolling off the line. Our design and engineering teams have done a fantastic job and our skilled manufacturing team will now deliver the car to the high quality levels that our customers have come to expect.’

To support the production of new Juke, extra manufacturing staff will be needed on the plant’s production Line Two. In a restructuring of the production schedule, these staff will transfer from production Line One, with both lines operating on a two-shift pattern. Overall headcount at the plant will remain the same.

Sales start from the end of November in European markets.