9:21 am, June 8, 2023
Nissan’s factory in Sunderland is celebrating building its 11 millionth vehicle since production began there in 1986.
It means that on average a new car has rolled off the line every two minutes, every hour of every day, for 37 years.
The 11 millionth car was a Blade Silver Qashqai e-Power, which is one of three electrified models that are currently made there.
As an indication of how the production process has improved over the decades, Nissan said the first car to be built in Sunderland was a white Nissan Bluebird that took about 22 hours to manufacture, while today a top-of-the-range Qashqai e-Power takes about 8.5 hours.
Adam Pennick, vice-president of manufacturing at Nissan Sunderland, said: ‘This milestone reflects the vast experience that our world-class manufacturing team has in delivering the quality cars that our customers love.
‘We’ve come a long way since production first started with some iconic models on the way.
‘But we’re always looking forward, and our fully electrified range and EV36Zero plan mean we have an exciting and sustainable future.’
The 11 million figure comprises nine models with 22 variants. Four of the models – Qashqai, Micra, Primera and Juke – have gone past seven figures, with Qashqai the all-time highest at more than four million.
The Sunderland factory has a workforce of about 6,000 and is the UK’s largest car manufacturer by volume, said Nissan.
It added that it also supports a further 30,000 UK jobs in the supply chain, with some five million parts arriving every day at the plant.
