Nissan strikes gold again!

Sunderland finds itself at the heart of the global drive for electric vehicles.

The announcement that the new electric Leaf will be built in Sunderland was always going to be significant.

With 7,000 jobs at the factory and quadruple that in the supply chain all news of job security is welcomed across the whole of the North East.

But this announcement is particularly important given the noises being made across the motor industry.

Anyone who thought the drive for electric cars was just a nod to the environmentalists and never a serious end goal, will have to rethink their position.

No sooner had Nissan revealed it is to plough £36million into production of the all-electric Leaf in Sunderland, than BMW announced it is to make a big push into electrified vehicles.

The German carmaker says that by 2025 it plans a dozen all-electric models and 13 hybrids.

Jaguar Land Rover is also upping its game. They say every vehicle line in their armoury will be allelectric or hybrid by 2020.

The game is on ... and, to coin a phrase, you’ve got to be in it to win it.

And with this announcement, Sunderland finds itself in at the heart of the action. It’s where we deserve to be.

Nissan Sunderland has a workforce that produces the goods year after year, decade after decade.

That they are to be given the freedom of the city has caused consternation from a section of the community, but the value of their, and Nissan’s, contribution to the social and economic benefit of the community cannot be understated.

Once again, Sunderland has struck gold thanks to Nissan. Gold Leaf you could say.