Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK

Nissan Motor Manufacturing Ltd is a British subsidiary car manufacturing plant in Sunderland. It is owned and operated by the European division of Japanese car manufacturer Nissan.

Geography

Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK is located in Sunderland, Tyne 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 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 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. 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.
In February 1984, Nissan and the UK government signed an agreement to build a car plant in the UK. The following month a 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, 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 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. 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 February 1987, NMUK had become the sole supplier of the 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. Around this time, Nissan ended its relationship with Octav Botnar and the Automotive Financial Group, 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.
The Primera five-door model had the distinction of being the first model built at NMUK to be exported to the Japanese market. By 2008, however, falling sales led to its demise. The Qashqai became the main model for the plant, with such high demand that a night shift was introduced to keep up. Nearly 5,000 workers were employed at the plant by this stage; albeit 1,200 of them were made redundant in January 2009 as a result of the recession which saw demand for new cars slump.
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 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, backed by the U.K. government. 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.
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. 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.

Models produced at Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK

Current models

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	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2019			–		–	–
2020			–		–	–
2021			–		–	–
2022	157,619	???	–	???	–	–	238,329
2023	???	???	–	???	–	–	324,893

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.

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 vehicle. NMUK houses a 5,000 tonne press capable of pressing 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. 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.
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 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 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. From here the parts are painted with primer, then basecoat, some colours get two coats of basecoat at different stations. 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, 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, and exterior 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.