Nissan will invest £170m to build its Kicks, a new hybrid SUV, at Sunderland, giving the plant a fourth model as the carmaker seeks to increase production at its North East factory.
Kicks will be built alongside the Qashqai, Juke and LEAF for customers in the UK, Europe and Turkey. Nissan describes it as a compact B-segment crossover and says it will make its European debut at Sunderland.
Kicks will use Nissan’s third-generation e-POWER system. The petrol engine generates electricity and recharges the battery, while an electric motor drives the wheels.
The new model will also give the UK’s biggest car plant additional production volume. The Financial Times reported that the plant's utilisation rate is currently hovering at about 50 per cent and that Kicks could add up to 50,000 vehicles to annual production, citing a person close to the company.
A proposed contract-manufacturing arrangement with Chinese carmaker Chery could add further volume. Nissan and Chery have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding but have not completed a formal agreement.
People close to the talks told the FT that the arrangement is still expected to proceed, with Nissan potentially manufacturing three Chery models at Sunderland under the Omoda and Jaecoo brands. Nissan did not refer to the Chery talks in its Kicks announcement.
The investment forms part of a broader renewal of Nissan's Sunderland range. The plant already produces e-POWER versions of the Qashqai and Nissan says 200,000 UK-built Qashqai e-POWER models have been made.
The company will unveil the new Pixo small electric car for Europe on 23 September. From next year, Sunderland is also due to produce a new third-generation Juke, which will be fully electric.
North East mayor Kim McGuinness described the Kicks investment as a vote of confidence in the region's automotive workforce.
“It’s a £170m vote of confidence in North East car making and the people who work in our industry,” she said in a LinkedIn post. “We’ve backed our automotive sector in the electric transition and it is paying off with four models on the books at Nissan now.”
The investment comes as Sunderland marks 40 years of Nissan production. The company says the plant has produced 12 million vehicles since the first Bluebird rolled off the line in 1986 and now employs about 6,000 people directly. It supports a further 30,000 UK supply-chain jobs.
Kicks will become the 10th model manufactured at Sunderland since the plant opened in 1986.