6:45 am, May 29, 2020
Nissan factory workers protested and burnt tyres outside the factory gates of the car firm’s Barcelona plant yesterday after the brand said it was to close.
Nissan announced yesterday that Sunderland would be the preferred hub for manufacturing in Europe with production moving to the North East.
It paves the way for other models from the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance to also be built in Sunderland – including what many believe will be Renault models produced on the same platform, like the Kadjar SUV.
Nissan workers set light to tyres at the gates of the Barcelona factory after the closure was announced.
There will be 3,000 job losses with 20,000 families expected to be affected in Spain’s Catalonia region when the Japanese car maker closes the plant.
Nissan has been mulling for months a plan to scale down its production in Europe and other parts of the world, the company is suffering like many other carmakers from a plunge in demand for vehicles.
The Japanese giant unveiled its first annual loss in 11 years yesterday, reporting losses of $6.2bn.
Politicians around the world are debating whether and how to bail out a car industry that won billions in government support a decade ago after the 2008 financial crisis.
France has already unveiled a huge multi-billion pound deal to support its industry with a scrappage incentive. It is likely Britain will follow suit.
Even before the pandemic, the industry was facing major new costs and disruption as companies rushed to develop cleaner cars and raced to roll out innovations like autonomous vehicles.
The Spanish government criticised Nissan’s move yesterday, arguing it would be cheaper for the carmaker to invest in improving its productivity in the region rather than take on the one billion-euro hit of the closure.
Economy minister Nadia Calvino told Spain’s public broadcaster, TVE: ‘We lament this news. The government was seeking more negotiations to see how to channel this process and find alternative solutions.
‘We think this is a plant that has a strategic value for Nissan.’
Nissan plans to phase out some 3,000 direct jobs by the end of the year, said Juan Carlos Vicente, head of the workers’ committee in the factory after a meeting with executives.
‘They are letting us die,’ Mr Vicente told hundreds of colleagues who gathered outside the factory.
He said Nissan had argued that the business was not competitive even if it added a vehicle to its production line, which currently builds the eNV200 electric van and Navara pick-up.
The plant has been operating well under its maximum capacity for months and workers have been striking since the first rumours of the closure emerged on May 4.
‘We are going to keep our fight, putting in check governments and asking them to support us in reverting this decision,’ Vicente told a crowd that quickly moved to set fire to a pile of tyres.
Reeling from a scandal involving its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, Yokohama-based Nissan is undergoing a deep restructuring, focusing on China, North America and Japan.
The company announced this week that it is leaving the European market, Russia, South America and North Africa to its French partner Renault to lead and Southeast Asia and Oceania to Mitsubishi.
Management at Renault was also meeting yesterday with unions about its two billion-euro cost-cutting plan.
The plan had been under discussion since before the virus crisis, but the lockdown and looming recession are darkening the company’s outlook.
Unions fear it could lead to thousands of job cuts and factory closures.
Renault will announce its plan today (Friday).
In Spain, a key question is whether Nissan will need to pay back the subsidies it has received from the government for furloughing workers during the pandemic.
The temporary lay-offs were granted under the condition that companies would re-hire the staff after the outbreak, and keep them for at least six months.
Jose Luis Hernandez, who has spent 31 of his 54 years working at the Barcelona plant, said he felt frustrated and helpless: ‘It’s been a whole life here, only to see the company pay us back in this way. It’s been a very hard blow.’
The news in Spain may be tough, but has been a boost for Sunderland.
The future of the Sunderland plant – which produces cars such as the Qashqai, Leaf and Juke – has been uncertain for some time, but fresh confirmation by Nissan as part of its ‘Transformation Plan’ has confirmed the Japanese car maker sees the site as a core part of its European presence.
A spokesman for Nissan GB said: ‘Sunderland remains an important part of our plans for the European business. The new Juke was recently launched, and the plant is now preparing for the arrival of the new Qashqai.
‘Europe will remain an important part of Nissan’s global business. We have more than three decades of history in Europe, where Nissan created the crossover segment and took the lead in the rollout of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.
‘The company will be focusing on core models and technologies, which in Europe is our range of crossovers and electrified technologies.’
Nissan Sunderland factory future safe as firm says it will close Barcelona plant
Chances of Renault models being built at Sunderland increase as new Alliance strategy unveiled
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