At 10m high and with foundations deeper than 6.5m, the giant facility will press body sides and other panels for vehicles built in Sunderland, including the Qashqai, Juke, and Leaf.
Nissan said that it will be capable of stamping 2.5 million panels a year with a force in excess of 5,200 tonne once at full capacity.
The press line and panel storage area, which has now joined Nissan’s existing seven press lines, required a building extension totalling 6,780m², taking the total built up space on site above 362,000m².
The £37 million project has taken just over 18 months to complete. It forms part of a £650 million ongoing investment in new facilities and future models in Sunderland.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, divisional vice president of European Manufacturing at Nissan, said: “The new press is a fantastic piece of cutting edge technology which sets up the next generation of production at Nissan Sunderland Plant.
“The quality of the build and the efficiency of the installation are a real credit to the dedication, talent and sheer hard work of our team at the plant.”
