Nissan to get more UK batteries
LONDON: Nissan will source more bateries from Britain to avoid tariffs on electric cars ater the UK’S trade deal with the European Union (EU), which a senior executive told Reuters turned Brexit from a risk into an opportunity for its factory in northeast England.
Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta also said Brexit-related problems at ports since January 1 were “peanuts” for Nissan, which has had to handle COVID-19 and natural disasters.
Following Britain’s departure from the European Union, London and Brussels struck a trade deal on Dec. 24 that avoided major disruption as well as a 10% levy on cars, provided they meet local content rules.
Japan’s Nissan makes about 30,000 Leaf electric cars at its Sunderland factory, most with a locally-sourced 40 kilowat-hour batery. They remain tariff-free.
But more powerful versions use an imported system, which will now be bought in Britain, creating jobs.
“It will take a few months,” Gupta told Reuters. “Brexit, which we thought is a risk has become an opportunity for Nissan,” he added.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday the news was a “great vote of confidence in the UK.”
Asked about trade disruption, Gupta told reporters: “When I look at how Nissan has come out from the crisis of a tsunami, earthquake, flood, last week snow, tornadoes..., the startup problem which we are seeing in the ports is peanuts.”
“For a global manufacturer to have additional documentation to fill a form at the border is nothing. People prepared for it, we have updated our sotware, we have updated our processes. It’s OK.” Theeffectofbrexitwillvarybetweenautomakers. Nissan opened what is now Britain’s biggest car plant in 1986 and made nearly 350,000 vehicles there in 2019.
In contrast, Ford, which imports everything it sells in Britain, has raised some UK prices due to Us-sourced content.