Nissan Sunderland sets new records
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The Nissan car plant at Sunderland has broken the UK record for the number of cars made in a single year.
A total of 480,485 vehicles were manufactured, besting the 423,262 cars produced in 2010, which was the first time any UK car plant made more than 400,000 cars in one year.
In November, demand for the company's Qashqai and Juke models created an all-time record month with 46,606 vehicles rolling off the production line.
The new records reflect the first full calendar year in which there has been 24-hour production of the Qashqai and the first full year of Juke production. The number of jobs at the plant also reached an all-time high in 2011, with 5,462 people directly employed on site.
In 2012, Sunderland will see the launch of Nissan's first lithium-ion battery production facility outside Japan and preparation for the start of Nissan Leaf production in 2013.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, Nissan's Vice President for Manufacturing in the UK, said, "Our 25th anniversary year will go down in UK car production history and all our staff can be proud of the many milestones we have passed.
"Our 26th year promises to be equally exciting, as we launch the new Battery Plant at Sunderland and prepare the plant for production of the 100% Nissan LEAF alongside the Qashqai, Juke and Note."
Last June, Nissan president and CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that workers in Britain will design, engineer and build the next version of the Qashqai.
