Nissan will secure the future of its Sunderland factory and thousands of British jobs by building a fourth car at its UK car plant.
The Nissan Kicks Hybrid is a new model for Europe that brings £170million of investment to the Japanese carmaker’s production home in the North East.
The compact crossover, which is already on sale overseas, is the tenth Nissan model to be built at Sunderland in its history, and will be manufactured alongside the Qashqai, Juke, new Leaf EV – and the new electric Juke from next summer.
Kicks is the second model Nissan Europe has confirmed this month, following the announcement of a new small EV reviving the Pixo nameplate from the late noughties. That car is due to be unveiled next week.
While the announcement will be dubbed a major vote in confidence for the UK’s automotive industry, Nissan bosses have caveated that the decision will only be rubberstamped if minsters agree to slash electric car sales targets between now and 2030.
The announcement comes as Nissan marks 40 years of car manufacturing in the UK as it looks to turn the tide after a difficult period for the company.
In May, thousands of jobs were put at risk when Nissan combined two production lines at Sunderland following its projected 650billion yen (£4.2billion) net loss for the fiscal year ending March 2026.
It later confirmed it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with Chery Group to allow the Chinese car giant to utilise unused capacity at the UK plant and assemble its own cars on site.
Nissan kicks life into Sunderland plant: This is the new Kicks crossover, which is going into production at the brand’s UK factory. The compact SUV will also be sold in the UK
Massimiliano Messina, chairman for Nissan’s AMIEO (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania) region, said: ‘This is fantastic news for our European region and demonstrates the agility and speed with which we can bring new models to new markets.
‘Kicks is a compact crossover with the unique e-Power hybrid drivetrain, exciting design and innovative technology.
‘Electrification with choice is what European customers want, and the introduction of Kicks will further demonstrate that Nissan has options for all.’
However, he warned that the move might only go ahead if ministers heeds the motor industry’s calls to water down electric car sales targets via its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
The Government is currently consulting on relaxing the 80 per cent requirement for all new cars sales to be EVs in 2030. It could be dropped as low as 50 per cent.
According to The Guardian, Messina said after the statement was released: ‘Of course we’re going to keep discussing with the UK government because large part of this is subject to the ZEV mandate amendment.’
When asked if the decision to build the Kicks in Sunderland and the £170million investment will go ahead if the EV sales targets were not adjusted, Messina said: ‘We try to assess always if this is more likely than unlikely.’
When probed about how likely the electric car targets would be reduced to a 50 per cent share of sales, he added: ‘For me, yes, it’s going to happen.’
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On Wednesday morning, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds welcomed the announcement from one of the UK’s biggest car producers.
‘Nissan has been at the heart of British manufacturing for four decades, with Sunderland producing millions of vehicles, supporting thousands of skilled jobs and helping establish the North East as a global automotive powerhouse,’ he said.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, described the announcement as a ‘major boost for Nissan Sunderland, the thousands of highly skilled jobs it supports and the wider local supply chain’.
He also dubbed it ‘another vote of confidence in UK automotive manufacturing with its world-class workforce, innovation and engineering excellence’.
Hawes said: ‘The UK sector has the fundamental strengths to secure growth. But to unlock that potential, we must continue to strengthen our competitiveness – supporting a healthy market, tackling the high cost of business, especially energy and additional employment costs – and ensuring trade works for manufacturers.
‘Do this and yet more companies will choose to build the next generation of vehicles here in Britain.’
At 4.3m long, 1.8m wide and 1.6m tall, the Kicks is almost identical in dimensions to the current Juke and the electric version arriving next year
The second-generation car was unveiled in Japan in June. It will produced in Sunderland alongside the Qashqai, Leaf EV, Juke and – from summer 2027 – Juke EV
Sunderland could get a real kick from this new car
The Kicks was originally launched as a concept car at the Sao Paulo Motor Show in 2014.
It went into production two years later for Latin American markets and, in 2018, was drafted in to replace the Juke in US and Canadian showrooms.
Kicks has also been sold in Nissan’s native Japan since 2020. However, it has not been offered to customers in Europe or the UK until now.
In America, it currently starts from $22,790 (£16,900).
While Nissan is yet to confirm a starting price in the UK, it will likely be around the same as the current Juke Hybrid, ringing in somewhere around £25,000.
Since going on sale in 2016, it has become one of Nissan’s most popular global products, recording more than 1.8 million sales across 70 countries in a decade.
The Kicks first went on sale in Latin America in 2016, followed by the US and Canada in 2018. In 2020, it was introduced to its native Japanese market. Nissan has sold more than 1.8m in total
The five-door shrunken-down SUV has five seats and around 450 litres of boot space, making it an ideal option for small families
The car features a dual digital screen and lots of physical buttons to control the cabin temperature and other main settings. This is likely to be attractive to UK customers
The second-generation car being manufactured in Sunderland will be sold in the UK with the brand’s latest e-Power hybrid drivetrain.
Other markets will be able to get the Kicks with 1.0-litre and 2.0-litre petrol engines. These versions will also be built in Sunderland.
The five-door shrunken-down SUV has five seats and around 450 litres of boot space, making it an ideal option for small families.
The crossover will be assembled alongside the new Juke EV from summer 2027 and is likely to be offered as its combustion-engined alternative within the same segment.
At 4.3m long, 1.8m wide and 1.6m tall, the Kicks is almost identical in dimensions to the current Juke and the electric version arriving next year.
The announcement is a fresh boost to Nissan Sunderland and should secure the plant’s future despite the Japanese brands’ ongoing financial difficulties
The new model announcement comes as Nissan confirmed it has now surpassed 12 million vehicles produced at the Sunderland factory since it first opened in 1986.
On average, the plant has rolled out a new car every one minute and 45 seconds.
The first model produced at the factory was the Bluebird. The Primera, Micra, Almera, Note, Juke, Qashqai and Leaf have followed over the last four decades, along with production of sister brand Infiniti’s Q30 between 2015 and 2019.
Adam Pennick, vice president of manufacturing at the plant, said: ‘I’m proud to welcome this new model allocation for Sunderland.
‘It’s the perfect way to celebrate our 40th year as a world-class manufacturing site. We look forward to seeing the Kicks e-Power Hybrid roll down the production line alongside our electrified line-up of Qashqai, Juke and Leaf.’
The deal was seen as a lifeline for Nissan Sunderland, which is Britain’s biggest car factory, employing 6,000 people and producing 273,322 vehicles last year.
Last year, Nissan announced it would cull seven of its factories worldwide as part of a major cost-saving effort that also slashed 20,000 jobs globally.
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