Nissan ponders building cars for Chinese rivals at Sunderland plant

Nissan’s chief executive has confirmed he would consider building cars for other manufacturers at the UK’s largest car factory in Sunderland, amid talks with China’s Chery. Ivan Espinosa said Nissan was “looking at options” for Sunderland and its 6,000 workers as the struggling Japanese carmaker on Wednesday reported steep losses for the year to March. Nissan announced last week it was closing one of its two production lines at Sunderland, in north-east England, because of faltering demand for its vehicles. However, it has held talks to produce vehicles on behalf…

EU carmakers ‘days away’ from factories halting work in chip war with China

Industry body says reserves of Nexperia semiconductors are dwindling after Beijing bans exports of key components Carmakers in the EU are “days away” from closing production lines, the industry has warned as a crisis over computer chip supplies from China escalates. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) issued an urgent warning on Wednesday saying its members, which include Volkswagen, Fiat, Peugeot and BMW, were now working on “reserve stocks but supplies are dwindling”. Continue reading… The Guardian

Nissan open to making cars for Chinese partner in Sunderland, says CEO

Nissan’s new chief executive has said the Japanese carmaker would be open to building cars for a Chinese partner at its factory in Sunderland as he confirmed it would not be closed in a round of deep cost cuts. This week Nissan revealed plans to close seven factories and cut 20,000 jobs after sustaining heavy losses. Ivan Espinosa said on Thursday the UK plant at Sunderland would not be among the factories to close and he would consider building cars for China’s Dongfeng. Sunderland, where it employs 6,000 people, is…