Nissan sparks fury in Spain, relief in UK
TROUBLED carmaker Nissan provoked fury in Spain after announcing the closure of its Barcelona plant and the loss of nearly 3,000 jobs, but there was relief in North East England where its production will continue at Sunderland.
In a dramatic tale of two cities, hundreds of demonstrators launched a protest outside the Barcelona factory - entrances were blockaded with piles of burning tyres. December’s shut down could affect 22,000 workers overall in the local economy supporting the manufacturer.
However, some 7,000 jobs were saved at Sunderland, the UK’s largest car plant, where production is scheduled to restart after temporary closure over the coronavirus crisis.
The Japanese carmaker is restructuring production in a shrinking market. Last week it revealed a €6 billion net loss in the last financial year; the worst result in a decade after years of falling profits.
Nissan is now said to be restructuring to attain ‘steady growth’ rather than a strategy of global expansion in the changing motor industry. Company chiefs announced it was to ‘focus on key markets’ and admitted closing the Catalonia factory was ‘a very difficult decision’.
The company is in a threeway alliance with partners Renault and Mitsubishi and the group will utilise each other’s facilities for production.
Trade union Unite’s national officer for the automotive industry, Steve Bush said: “The loss of jobs of our Spanish colleagues is a regrettable reminder that automotive manufacturing is facing tremendous challenges.”
He said the union would look to gain reassurances that cost-cutting measures being taken by Nissan would not impact on jobs, terms and conditions, or other benefits at Sunderland, ‘Europe’s most efficient plant’.
As protests continued in Barcelona and workers vowed to fight to reverse the decision, workers’ representative Carlos Vicente lamented: “They’ve left us to die.”
He said the union had warned for years that models manufactured at the factory could be switched to England or France, with production levels falling in Catalonia.
“They said we could not be competitive even if they gave us a car - they don’t want to keep Barcelona... but we won’t allow it,” he added.