Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd was founded in 1984 and by 1986 the first cars were rolling off the production lines at the new state of the art factory in Sunderland. Since then, the plant has gone from strength to strength, with a total investment made or announced since 1984 of several billion GBP. Between 1986 and 2015, total production stood at over 8 million vehicles. Nissan’s European Design Studio is based in London, UK.Production is currently running at at around 500,000 a year with a workforce of 6,700 and supporting a further 27,000 positions in the supply chain. Sunderland currently produces the Juke and Qashqai crossovers. Production of the popular LEAF EV has been temporarily discontinued, but will begin again with the introduction of the next generation model in 2026.
