Nissan to close UK line and cut 900 European jobs

Car manufacturer Nissan has announced it will be closing one of its UK production lines and will be cutting 900 jobs in Europe.

The company confirmed it would be merging two of its lines in its Sunderland plant, but said no jobs would lost through the production change.

However, the Japanese-owned car maker said it was in talks to cut about 10% of its European workforce, which included plans to close part of its warehouse in Barcelona and import cars to Nordic countries.

A Nissan spokesperson said the changes were being made under its RE:Nissan recovery plan and were designed to create a "leaner, more resilient business that adapts quickly to market changes".

"As part of this approach, today we have opened discussions with our European employees with a view to simplifying our structures, reducing complexity, and ensuring we operate in a sustainable and profitable way," they said.

"This includes discussions on proposals for the partial closure of our Barcelona warehouse and to move to an importer model for our Nordic markets.

"We have also announced that we will consolidate production from two lines to one at our Sunderland plant as we assess future opportunities to secure full plant utilisation."

Nissan is understood to be considering working with an external company to allow it to use part of its Sunderland factory.

However, details of the deal are unknown and Nissan would not confirm which firms it was in discussions with.