The plant – which manufactures the Juke, Qashqai, Note and electric Leaf models – made 500,000 cars last year, making it the biggest car plant in the UK, according to Nissan.
Chancellor George Osborne welcomed the "fantastic news" that was "an important sign of Britain being chosen as a global leader in car production".
The new investment is expected to secure 6,700 jobs at the plant and more than 27,000 in the supply chain.
Nissan Europe chairman Paul Wilcox told the BBC the plant was "probably the most productive in Europe and, I'd argue, globally".
He added that although demand in Russia and China was slowing, the car market in western Europe was "very good and improving, and the market in the UK is very, very good".
"We are not getting carried away as the global market is turbulent, but we are seeing slight growth in demand."
Rachel Eade, automotive lead at the Business Growth Service, said: "News of Nissan's £100m investment into its Sunderland plant to build the next generation Juke crossover is great news for the North East and reinforces the ongoing investment in skills and capacity improvements across the UK automotive supply chain… all gearing towards securing long-term investment and continued increases in volume production.
"The deal is positive for the domestic sector as a whole, as we have many auto suppliers across the country who design and manufacture components that go into the various Nissan models. With the strength of the pound causing some concern, it is definitely a shot in the arm for the global reputation of our world class engineering and manufacturing skills."
