Brexit latest: Nissan to make Sunderland plant investment decision 'next month'

Paul Watson, the leader of Sunderland council, said people are worried about how Nissan’s recent threat to scrap a potential new investment might affect them

Nissan will have to decide soon whether or not to move production for some models out of the UK (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Japanese car giant Nissan is due to decide next month on whether to continue producing one of its best-selling cars in the UK as the country prepares to leave the EU.

More than 60 per cent of votes cast from Sunderland during the EU referendum favoured leaving the EU. But Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland council, said people are worried about how Nissan’s recent threat to scrap a potential new investment might affect them.

The company is debating whether to produce the next Qashqai SUV at its Sunderland plant, which employs nearly 7,000 people and produces about a third of the UK’s car output.

Speaking at the Japanese company's headquarters in Yokohama, Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Nissan, said: "We're not asking for any advantage [from the British government], but we don't want to lose any competitiveness no matter what the discussions."

Mr Ghosn said he had received reassurances that the British Government would be "extremely cautious" in "preserving the competitiveness" of the Sunderland plant. "As long as I have this guarantee ... I can look at the future of Sunderland with more ease," he said.

The conference followed his meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May at Downing Street last week.

The time it takes to bring a new car into production means Nissan needs to decide where to make its next-generation model soon. Mr Ghosn has previously said: “If I need to make an investment in the next few months and I can’t wait until the end of Brexit, then I have to make a deal with the UK Government.

Businesses have been concerned that Britain is headed towards a hard Brexit, which would see the UK drifting away from co-operation with the rest of the EU and facing tariffs of up to 10 per cent on car exports. Hanno Kirner, executive director at Jaguar Land Rover, said that post-Brexit trade barriers imposed on the UK car industry would “frankly be disastrous” if the right deal is not reached.

Additional reporting by Reuters