Coordinates: 54°55.2209′N 1°28.

14239′W

Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK

Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd (NMUK) is a car
manufacturing plant in Sunderland. It is owned and operated by Nissan Motor
the European division of Japanese car manufacturer Nissan. Manufacturing (UK) Ltd.

Contents
Geography
History
Models produced at Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK
Current models
Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK
Former models
from the Air, 2004
Production by model
Type Subsidiary
Plant functions
Industry Automotive
Offices
Founded 1984
Information technology
Headquarters Sunderland,
Workforce and productivity England
Training Area served Worldwide
References Products Automobiles
External links Number of approximately
employees 7000[1]
Parent Nissan
Geography
Website www.nissan.co.uk
(http://www.nissan.
Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK is located in Sunderland, Tyne
co.uk)
and Wear, in North East England. It was built on the site of the
former RAF Usworth airfield near the A19 and A1231. The
factory is adjacent to the UK Nissan Distribution Centre (NDS) and has a number of on-site suppliers. The
landscaped NMUK site incorporates conservation areas, such as ponds, lakes and woodland, and currently
has 10 onsite wind turbines of the Vestas V47/660 type, producing up to 10% of the energy required for the
plant. The site is located 5 miles (8 km) from the Port of Tyne where international distribution is also based.

History
Nissan had been importing cars from its native country Japan to the UK since 1968, under the Datsun
brand (which was phased out between 1982 and 1984, when the Nissan brand took over completely). After
a steady start, its market share rose dramatically from just over 6,000 car sales in 1971 to more than 30,000
a year later, and reaching 100,000 a year before the end of the decade, aided by competitive prices, good
equipment levels and a reputation for producing reliable cars. The success of Datsun came at a time when
the British car industry, particularly British Leyland, was blighted by strikes as well as reports of
disappointing build quality and reliability of many of its cars.[2]

In February 1984, Nissan and the UK government signed an agreement to build a car plant in the UK. The
following month a 799-acre (3.23 km2 ) greenfield site in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, 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 Wear and Tyne, 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
ports on the Wear and Tyne, within easy driving distance of the international Newcastle Airport, and close
to major trunk roads such as the A1 and A19, as well as major ports for the export of vehicles. 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). However, critics argue that this means the plant workforce is weakly
represented, as workers are only members of one single union. 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 more than 30 years of production – a stark
contrast to the strikes which hit the likes of British Leyland during the 1970s.

In December 1985, McAlpine handed over the completed factory

building to Nissan for the installation of machinery and factory
components, ahead of schedule. Phase 1 of the plant construction
was completed in July 1986, consisting of a body, paint and final
assembly Line. The first Bluebird was produced shortly after and is
on display at the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens. Official
opening of the plant by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and
Nissan President Yutaka Kume took place in September 1986. By The Nissan Bluebird was first car to
February 1987, NMUK had become the sole supplier of the be produced at the factory.
Bluebird model to the UK market, after a brief spell of importing
Japanese built models, and work on phase two of the plant began,
with plastics moulding and engine assembly beginning in 1988, and was completed in May 1990. This
would prove to be a landmark year for the plant, with the introduction of the P10 Primera, the first model to
be wholly built at NMUK, replacing the Bluebird and going into production that summer. By 1991, despite
the recession, the plant turned its first profit of £18.4 million, and was awarded 'British Manufacturer' status
by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Around this time, Nissan ended its
relationship with Octav Botnar and the Automotive Financial Group (AFG), which had been its UK import
concessionaire since 1970, and brought the import and distribution business in-house, basing it at the
Sunderland plant. In August 1992, the plant began to produce two models, with the introduction of the
highly successful Micra, which was the first car of a Japanese brand to be voted "European Car of the
Year". The Micra proved particularly popular with British and continental buyers, and was in production
for a whole decade until the launch of the next generation Micra.

The early 21st century was a period of growth for the plant, with the plant being awarded contracts to build
the updated Almera from the end of 1999, becoming a three-model plant, and continuation of the Micra and
Primera model changes. The Micra C+C was also produced there after the introduction of a new Micra
hatchback at the end of 2002.
Late 2005 saw the introduction of the Note model, and a year later came the demise of the Almera and the
introduction of the Qashqai. At this point, NMUK had built a reputation for being the most efficient plant in
Europe.

By 2008, the falling sales of the Primera led to its demise (UK sales had finished two years earlier), with
the Qashqai becoming the main model for the plant, with such high demand that a night shift was
introduced to keep up. The Primera five-door model had the distinction of being the first model built at
NMUK to be exported to the Japanese market. Nearly 5,000 workers were employed at the plant by this
stage; however 1,200 of them were made redundant in January 2009 as a result of the recession which saw
demand for new cars slump.[3]

Despite a temporary suspension of the third shift due to the automotive industry crisis of 2008, the third
shift was reintroduced, and the strong demand for the Qashqai has helped NMUK remain strong
throughout the crisis.

After the crisis, Nissan announced that the new Juke model would be built starting in July 2010, replacing
the Micra (now produced in Chennai, India) and that NMUK would be the European manufacturing
location for the Electric Vehicle Leaf model beginning in 2011, as well as an on-site lithium-ion battery
manufacturing facility for an investment of £420  million ($636  million USD), backed by the U.K.
government.[4] 2013 saw the introduction of the second-generation Note and Qashqai.

Nissan's Sunderland plant in northeast England will play an important role in the firm's future, executives
said in May 2020, despite plans to downsize elsewhere in Europe.[5]

In July 2021, Nissan announced plans to create 400 jobs at the Sunderland factory site to build a new
electric vehicle and models such as the Juke, Qashqai and the Leaf.[6] This development forms part of plans
to create 6,000 new jobs in Sunderland at Nissan and among its suppliers, under a blueprint announced by
the company earlier in July as it invests £1bn to develop an electric vehicle manufacturing hub in the
United Kingdom.[7]

Models produced at Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK

Current models
Nissan Qashqai (2006–present)
Nissan Juke (2010–present)
Nissan Leaf (2012–present)

The electric Nissan Leaf is currently

Former models produced at the plant.

Nissan Bluebird (1986–1990)

Nissan Primera (1990–2008)
Nissan Micra (1992–2010)
Nissan Almera (2000–2006)
Nissan Note (2005–2017)
Infiniti Q30 (2015–2019)
Infiniti QX30 (2016–2019)
Production by model
Year Qashqai Juke Note Leaf Micra Q30/QX30 Total
2008 224,989 – 77,819 – 83,747 – 386,555
2009 198,841 – 50,880 – 88,429 – 338,150
2010 271,188 44,622 52,872 – 54,580 – 423,262
2011 301,277 132,606 46,602 – – – 480,485
2012 310,837 154,759 44,884 92 – – 510,572
2013 286,477 147,954 58,901 8,424 – – 501,756
2014 285,110 132,646 65,143 17,339 – – 500,238
2015 352,897 ??? ??? ??? ??? – ???
2016 ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? – 507,544
2017 324,000 111,000 30,000 20,000 – 34,000 519,000
2018 – – – – – – –

According to Richard Aucock of Motoring Research, NMUK produced 507,444 cars at their Sunderland
plant during 2016, making it the 2nd largest UK manufacturer behind Jaguar Land Rover. JLR reportedly
produced 544,401 cars during the same period. No breakdown of figures to illustrate volumes per model
have been published yet.[8][9]

Plant functions
NMUK is split into three logical areas: Body Assembly, Paint and
Final Assembly. Each is further broken down into areas known as
'shops'.

Press shop

The first shop in the manufacturing process, the Press Shop is

responsible for pressing the outer and inner body panels of the The Nissan Qashqai is produced at
vehicle. NMUK houses a 5,000 tonne press capable of pressing the plant.
two panels simultaneously – one of only two in use in any Nissan
plant.

Body shop

Linked directly to the Press Shop, the Body Shop is a highly automated section of the factory with over
500 robots in operation. Pressed-panels are welded together to create complete body shells.

Body Paint shop

Body shells are painted in a semi-clean environment using solvent-based paint. Shells are dipped in
chemical tanks to cleanse them of any oils picked up on the panels during their manufacture in Body Shop.
Once bodies have been dipped and cleansed, they are then immersed in an anti-corrosion paint dip called
ED (Electrocoat Dip). This 'dip' coats the entire body, both inside and outside, and is the first paint coating
it will receive. Once the 'dipped' body has been stoved in the ED oven, the body progresses to the 'Sealing'
Booth. In this booth, the body has its interior panel joints, floor, tailgate, hood and door edges sealed with a
PVC based sealant to prevent water ingress and corrosion as the car is driven on the road. Also within this
zone, sound pads are added to the floor and boot to reduce road noise (standard practice in the motor
industry). The next booth it enters is the 'Underbody' Booth. In this booth, similar to 'Sealing' Booth, the
body's wheel arches are sealed using the same PVC based sealant. Robots then apply the underseal to the
underfloor and wheel arches. Also robots are used to apply the SGC (Stone Guard Coat) layer to the sills:
this coating is designed for abrasion resistance, i.e. preventing stone chips, scuffs, etc. From here, the body
proceeds into the Undercoat Oven. The next zone is 'ED Sanding' booth where the body is inspected for
any minor imperfections received in the ED Coat. The next zone is the 'Surfacer' Booth, where the body
receives its second coat of paint, this being the Surfacer Coat, then into the Surfacer Oven. Next is 'Surfacer
Sanding' Booth: the same as ED Sanding, this zone inspects the body for any imperfections picked up
within the Surfacer coating. Next comes the 'Topcoat' Booth, where the body receives its final coats of
paint, these being Topcoat and Clearcoat layers. After being stoved in the Topcoat oven, the body then
enters the 'Touch-up' Booth where the body has its final inspection for any imperfections picked up in the
Topcoat process. Once the body leaves here, it then moves on to the PBS (Painted Body Store) above Trim
and Chassis to await the next step in the production process.

Over £10m has been invested into the Paint Shop, in readiness for the upcoming introduction of Infiniti
models Q30 & QX30, making Nissan Sunderland, the first plant outside Japan to produce this luxury
brand, alongside its current models.

Plastics shop

Plastic components such as bumpers are injection-moulded on site.

Plastic Paint Shop

Bumpers molded in the Plastics shop are painted in the Plastic Paint shop which directly feeds Trim &
chassis. The shop uses a combination of manual sprayers and robots to coat up to 900 bumper sets per shift.
The process in Plastic Paint is similar to body paint, the parts are washed in a Powerwash facility before
being masked (dependent on trim level). From here the parts are painted with primer, then basecoat, some
colours get two coats of basecoat at different stations (Pearlescent effect). Then all part receive a layer of
clearcoat before being stoved in an oven.

Casting shop

Aluminium engine components such as cylinder heads are produced in the state-of-the-art Casting plant.

Unit shop

1.2 turbo, 1.2 supercharged, 1.6 and 2.0 litre petrol engines are built on-site on the Unit Assembly line. The
cylinder heads and camshafts are machined along the machining line before being shipped to the Assembly
line. The Unit Shop contains its own engine testing areas. Diesel engines are no longer produced at
NMUK.

Axle shop

A second welding facility costing over £5m is currently being built to ease demand on the Axle Shop for
Qashqai.

Trim & chassis

There are two parallel assembly lines in NMUK: Line 2 currently handles the Juke and Qashqai after
recently ceasing to make the Q30 and the QX30 ; Line 1 handles the Qashqai and Leaf. Painted bodies are
stored in a large holding area called PBS (Painted Body Store), and are released in a specific scheduled
sequence. They are brought into Trim & Chassis on suspended cradles. Each body moves through the
assembly line and is fitted with interior (Trim), and exterior (Chassis) components. At one point in the
process, the bodies are 'married' to a sub-assembled engine and subframe. Completed vehicles are sent
down a Final Line, where all aspects of the car, from brakes to waterproofing, are tested. The car is then
driven off-line to a holding area, ready to be distributed to a dealer.

Offices
Although the plant is made up primarily of manufacturing areas,
there is also a large office complex, housing supporting functions The plant viewed from the South.
including: Personnel, Community Relations, Production Control,
Engineering, Finance, Purchasing and Information Systems. Some
of these support functions, including Purchasing, Finance and Information Systems are not just responsible
for NMUK but for Nissan Europe as well. During a company restructuring exercise in 2003, large parts of
the Purchasing department were relocated to Cranfield. This angered many in the plant, but widespread
industrial action was avoided. In 2005, parts of the Finance department were relocated to Budapest in
Hungary. In both instances, NMUK adopted a policy of finding new jobs in other departments for those
who did not want to relocate.

Information technology
NMUK relies heavily on information technology to function. Computer-controlled robots and other
machinery, particularly in the body shop, are vital to production. These machines are maintained and
controlled by specialist engineering teams. Other functions, such as the complex scheduling of vehicles,
parts control and ordering, vehicle tracking, etc. are managed by software written in-house. Most of the
software resides on an IBM mainframe computer. This mainframe is not just responsible for NMUK; it
controls business functions across the Europe region, including NMUK's sister plant, NMISA, based in
Barcelona, Spain. The mainframe is located within the European Data Centre (EDC), which houses and
maintains the mainframe and over 50 servers.

Workforce and productivity

NMUK is one of the most productive car plants in Europe,
producing more cars per worker than any other factory. There are
7000 staff directly employed by NMUK, and approximately 500
contracted, indirect staff. Employees at NMUK work a standard
39-hour week. While Office staff work on a fixed day shift basis,
manufacturing staff work alternating morning and evening shifts.
The plant has also produced cars for
Morning shifts run from 7 am to 3:18 pm. Evening shifts run from
Nissan's luxury Infiniti brand.
approximately 4:35  pm to 12:53  am. Shift times can vary
depending on requirements. When required, overtime is worked,
although it balanced out during the year with planned downtime.

A 3-shift system has been introduced at times of high demand, meaning that the factory is active 24 hours a
day. This is something that is only introduced if NMUK officials can be sure demand is high enough.
Line
1 ran three shift production from August 2008 to the start of January 2009 to meet unprecedented demand
for the Qashqai, however due to the credit crunch and falling orders the third shift was suspended and
people released by voluntary redundancy.

Staff at NMUK use a number of methods to ensure productivity remains high. Three of the main ones are
Kaizen, Just in Time and Job Rotation.
In July 2011, Nissan announced that it would be recruiting a further 200 jobs at the plant to deal with
"record" levels of production.[10]

Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning Continuous Improvement. NMUK encourages all of its workforce to
seek out areas in which improvements in their working environment, no matter how small, can be made.
For example, a line-worker may have to bend down to pick a part out of a box as each vehicle goes past.
This could have health and safety implications, as well as wasting time. Kaizen teams would then
investigate, and possibly introduce a method in which the box is stored at an optimum height, within easy
reach of the line-worker.
Kaizen teams are based in every department. The emphasis is on small,
manageable improvements, although large Kaizen projects have been undertaken, e.g. platforms that follow
the vehicle down the line to prevent workers from having to walk alongside it while working.

Just in Time (JIT)

The JIT philosophy, encourages the use of the minimum amount of resources (e.g. space, time, material,
workers) necessary to add value to a product.
NMUK uses this management technique throughout the
factory and beyond. Synchronous Suppliers deliver parts line-side only when they are required, therefore
reducing the need to store large supplies of parts at great cost.

Job rotation

To keep the workforce flexible, NMUK operates a policy of '1 worker -> 3 jobs, 3 workers -> 1 job'. In
other words, a worker should be competent in at least three different jobs, and at least three people should
be capable of doing each job.
This principle ensures that each job can be covered in the case of absence. It
also means that jobs can be regularly rotated to prevent a worker from becoming bored in a particular role.

Training
In accordance with its Investors in People responsibilities, NMUK has a strong Training department and
offers a wide range of on and off the job training. The Flexible Learning Centre established on-site is open
to all staff and allows them to take part in over 300 courses.

Technical on-the-job training is available to all staff, and most of the courses are given on-site by qualified
trainers. People-development courses (e.g. presentation skills) are also provided. NMUK spends more per
head on staff-development than the British industry average.

NMUK has a Continuous Development Programme (CDP) whereby staff are given personal and
professional objectives every year, and are appraised against the objects. This appraisal is linked to pay
increases. This is also an opportunity for staff to identify where further training may be appropriate.

References
1. "Nissan will not extend contracts for 250 Sunderland workers" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
uk-england-tyne-53009502). BBC News. 11 June 2020.
2. "The 1970's best selling UK cars" (http://www.reallyloud.co.uk/1970s-best-selling-uk-cars/).
Reallyloud.co.uk.
3. "Nissan sheds 1,200 jobs as slump hits UK's biggest car factory" (http://www.scotsman.com/
news/nissan-sheds-1-200-jobs-as-slump-hits-uk-s-biggest-car-factory-1-753035). The
Scotsman.
 4. "Nissan LEAF Production Starts At 3rd Assembly Plant In Sunderland, UK (27 March 2013)"
(https://insideevs.com/news/317436/nissan-leaf-production-starts-at-3rd-assembly-plant-in-s
underland-uk-factory-video/). InsideEVs. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
5. Brexit Boost As Nissan Backs Britain Over Europe (https://www.forbes.com/sites/alasdairlan
e/2020/05/31/brexit-boost-as-nissan-backs-britain-over-europe/#7cd43e315681), Forbes, 31
May 2020
6. "Nissan to create 400 jobs at Sunderland car factory" (https://www.theguardian.com/busines
s/2021/jul/26/nissan-to-create-400-jobs-at-sunderland-car-factory). The Guardian. 26 July
2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
7. "Nissan sets out plans for £1bn electric car hub in Sunderland" (https://www.theguardian.co
m/business/2021/jul/01/nissan-sets-out-plans-for-1bn-electric-car-hub-in-sunderland). The
Guardian. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
8. "Britain's biggest car makers 2016 – ranked" (https://www.motoringresearch.com/car-news/b
ritains-biggest-car-makers-2016-ranked). Motoring Research.
9. "Nissan sees sales and profits drop amid falling car production numbers" (https://www.chroni
clelive.co.uk/business/business-news/nissan-sees-sales-profits-drop-15665313). Chronicle
Live. 11 January 2019.
10. "Sunderland's Nissan creates 200 new jobs" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-
14230231). BBC News. 21 July 2011.

External links
Official website (http://www.nissan.co.uk)
grid reference NZ340582

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