Nissan UK to recruit 150

Due to existing scrappage initiatives operating on the continent, as well as the forthcoming UK scheme, Nissan’s European manufacturing base in Sunderland is expecting additional, short-term customer demand for the Nissan Micra, Note and Qashqai models. In April, Nissan experienced a year-on-year increase in sales in major European markets currently operating a scrappage scheme. This includes Germany, up 9%, France, up 31% and Italy up 21%. In the 2009 Budget, the UK government introduced a scrappage incentive scheme, due to start 18 May. It will see government offer a £1,000 incentive to be matched by participating vehicle manufacturers when scrapping a taxed, insured and MOT’d car or van more than 10 years old which they have owned for at least one year. In anticipation of this temporary increase in demand continuing, the Sunderland plant will recruit 150 manufacturing staff on fixed-term contracts from June. The temporary manufacturing staff, who will receive four-month contracts, will operate over both of the plant’s two production lines to support a planned volume increase of around 14,000 cars in total. Trevor Mann, Nissan senior vice-president for manufacturing, Europe, said the impact of the financial crisis was continuing and the company’s 2009 full-year forecasts still reflected a depressed market overall. “However,” he went on, “this short-term spike in demand, fuelled by a number of scrappage schemes introduced across Europe, is clearly a very welcome boost to business during what is a highly challenging period for all car makers.”