Nissan’s
facility in Sunderland is set to manufacture a special edition Juke hatchbacks.
It
is understood the cars will feature new sports seating, touchscreen navigation
equipment, a reversing camera and folding door mirrors, as well as updated
alloy wheels and colour co-ordinated bumper trim.
The changes come ahead of the Japanese
manufacturer spending £100 million on its Sunderland plant to make the next
generation Juke, which is expected to support more than 34,000 direct and
supply chain jobs.
The Juke is one of Nissan’s most
popular models, and is built alongside the company’s production line on
Wearside alongside the best-selling Qashqai, the all-electric Leaf and the Note
hatchback.
According to latest figures, Nissan
sold 2,825 Jukes in the UK in May and has sold over 16,000 models to British
motorists this year.
Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK’s plant
at Sunderland also produces the sporty Q30 hatchback for the Infiniti luxury
marque. It is the first new car brand to be made in the UK on such a scale in
23 years.
The move represents a £250 million
investment in Sunderland and executives claim the Q30 will be vital in breaking
into the continent’s premium car sector, where rivals such as Audi, BMW and
Mercedes-Benz predominate.
It will soon be joined by QX30, with
both models set to become the first premium cars to be made at Sunderland’s
6,800-job plant and exported to the US and China.
As reported earlier, the plant will
stop making the Note as the Japanese company seeks to target additional growth
by pushing Qashqai sales.
Nissan executives in Japan have
sanctioned an extra £22 million to be spent in making more Qashqais in the
North-East of England. The first vehicles due to be built before the end of the
year.
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