A new factory in the UK will build electric powertrains for Nissan

News to make any Nissan-Honda merger taste much sweeter landed recently. Nissan Sunderland’s now getting its EV powertrains built on its doorstep, following a £50 million investment into a new factory.

The site is the first European home for Nissan’s EV powertrain supplier Japan Automatic Transmission Co (handily abbreviated to JATCO) and is based a stone’s throw from the Nissan plant at the International Advanced Manufacturing Park in the north east of England. JATCO's hoping to knock out 340,000 of its three-in-one powertrains a year from 2026.

Nissan produced 324,893 cars in 2023, so that figure will be more than enough when they're all operating at full power.

Though, there's been a well-publicised slowdown in UK appetite for fully electric vehicles of late. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) sales figures recorded a 25 per cent fall in EVs to private buyers last year.

Nonetheless, the mood is still positive. Mike Hawes, SMMT chief, said: “This latest investment is excellent news for the UK automotive sector, its workforce and, in particular, its supply chain.

"Amid intense global competition for investment, it demonstrates the UK’s strengths in advanced automotive manufacturing, strengths which can be further boosted by an ambitious industrial and trade strategy that delivers even more jobs and growth for the sector and the economy as a whole.”