City’s MPs to meet Nissan
Sunderland’s MPs are to meet with Nissan over the summer after reports the Japanese car giant is freezing investment in its city plant amid uncertainty over the UK’s relationship with Europe after Brexit.
The news comes as the head of the UK’s leading auto industry body again repeated calls for Britain to remain part of the EU Customs Union and Single Market.
Nissan chairman and chief executive Carlos Ghosn was reported to have announced the Japanese firm was deferring all long-term business decisions while it remains “in the dark” about any trade deal.
Mr Ghosn was quoted by the BBC as saying that the company’s investment plans would be put on hold until there was more clarity.
Sharon Hodgson, whose Washington and Sunderland West MP constituency covers the plant, spoke to Nissan just hours after the news broke.
She will meet with senior management from the firm during Parliament’s summer recess, alongside Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott and Houghton and Sunderland South colleague Bridget Phillipson.
The Nissan news comes as new figures reveal the number of cars built in UK factories increased as expected last month, but only by 1.3%.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 137,225 cars rolled off the production lines in May following a “marked decline” in the same month last year, when several plants adjusted production schedules to prepare for a raft of new and updated models.
Production for export dipped by 1.5%, with 107,307 cars destined for overseas markets and making up 78.2% of UK automotive production.