NISSAN'S Sunderland car factory is the only European plant in the world to produce more than 100 cars per employee per year, according to a major new study. The plant ranks 11th out of 54 plants studied by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the top 10 was entirely made up of Far Eastern plants.

Daewoo topped the list with its Changwon facility in South Korea, where 165 cars per employee roll off the production line each year. Sunderland's 105 cars per year placed it among the leading European plants, followed by Volkswagen's Navarra plant, in Spain and General Motors' Eisenach factory in Germany. The figures were released in the fourth quarter edition of Motor Business International.