Overview
- Nissan confirmed on Wednesday that it will invest £170 million to produce the Kicks e‑POWER hybrid at its Sunderland factory, adding a tenth model to the plant’s line‑up.
- The Sunderland‑built Kicks will be sold in the UK, across Europe and in Turkey, but Nissan has not provided a production start date or firm annual volumes.
- Company executives said the allocation is conditional on UK policy shifts, with Nissan urging weaker zero‑emission vehicle (ZEV) targets and tariff changes to match EU measures so the plant remains competitive.
- Sunderland currently runs well below capacity and the Kicks is expected to help raise utilisation; Nissan is also in talks to rent a freed production line to Chery or other partners to fill remaining volume gaps.
- The announcement dovetails with Nissan’s parallel plan to introduce new EVs from Sunderland and highlights wider pressure from low‑cost Chinese rivals and proposed EU content rules that could affect UK exports.