2:44pm Thursday 8th January 2009
By Nigel Burton
THE grim news at Nissan came just a day after it was revealed new car sales had crashed by 21 per cent in December.
But this is not a British problem. Sales have been in free fall across Europe for months.
Sales in Italy and Spain are down by more than a third - sales in Iceland were down an incredible 94 per cent last month.
Overall UK sales in 2008 were 2.1 million - down from 2.4m in 2007.
But that figures disguises the true picture because sales at the beginning of the year were still surging.
In response to the unprecedented slowdown every UK car factory has slashed production.
Honda has decided to close its factory in Swindon for two months, as well as pulling the plug on its British-based Formula One racing operation.
Toyota has also introduced short term working, despite introducing a new model which should have boosted demand.
Jaguar, Land Rover and Vauxhall have all taken similarly dramatic action.
Nissan has not been immune to the slowdown but, so far, it has managed stagnant demand by switching workers to training roles.
But that could not carry on forever.
The Sunderland plant finds itself making a car that is about to be phased out (the Micra), a modestly successful niche model (the Note) and a popular crossover (the Qashqai) at a time when the industry is going through a period of savage re-adjustment.
Sunderland will survive this turmoil -- it's productivity record makes it a key part of Nissan's global operation -- but today's announcement shows that no one can take anything for granted in the current climate.
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