Nissan has awarded the Sunderland plant the contract to build the next generation Qashqai, despite fears of trade volatility due to Brexit.

The plant has also been awarded a deal to build the X-Trail, which is currently manufactured in Japan. 80% of production from Sunderland is exported to over 130 international markets.  

The deal means the plant retains the Qashqai, which it has built for global markets since its launch in 2007. More than two million Qashqai’s have been built in Sunderland in less than 10 years.

The plant currently builds Nissan's Qashqai, Juke, Leaf and Note, as well as the Infiniti Q30 and QX30 models.

In addition to 7,000 direct employees at Sunderland, the UK's largest car plant supports a further 28,000 British automotive supply chain jobs.

“I am pleased to announce that Nissan will continue to invest in Sunderland. Our employees there continue to make the plant a globally competitive powerhouse, producing high-quality, high-value products every day,” said Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of Nissan.

“The support and assurances of the U.K. government enabled us to decide that the next-generation Qashqai and X-Trail will be produced at Sunderland. I welcome British Prime Minister Theresa May’s commitment to the automotive industry in Britain and to the development of an overall industrial strategy.”

Nissan’s Sunderland plant opened in 1986 and has produced almost 9 million cars since. One in three British cars are produced in Sunderland.