BREAKING records is second nature to the workforce at Nissan's Sunderland plant. The factory has set the European standard for flexibility, efficiency and productivity during nearly two decades of success.

Yesterday's announcement that the Japanese company had awarded Sunderland another new model - a small people carrier currently called the Tone - is a vindication of the plant's achievements.

Although Nissan pitched the contract to build the Tone to all its plants - and those of its European partner Renault - the short-list almost certainly came down to only two; Sunderland and the Renault factory at Valladolid, in Spain.

Both plants already manufacture cars that use the same platform as the Tone - the Nissan Micra and the Renault Modus.

Valladolid, in the Castille-Leon province, one of Western Europe's poorest regions, is Renault's most productive site. Its success is thanks in part to Spanish Government grants to help fund a plant refit so it could build new models.

In the past few years, the Spanish factory has received more than 75 million euros in financial assistance; cash that has helped transform it into a modern production facility.

But the argument for building the Tone in Spain was not compelling enough to trump the Sunderland bid, not when the North-East was holding an ace - productivity.

Despite all the work that has gone into Valladolid, the Nissan Sunderland workers still produce more cars per head than their Spanish competitors.

As a Nissan UK spokesman said last night: "As with every new model, all our plants - and Renault's - make a bid for the contract. We obviously put together the best pitch."

To offset the currency risk for European exports, as much as 80 per cent of parts for the car will be bought in euros.

Several of Nissan's North-East suppliers have already switched to dealing in the euro.

So the Tone becomes Sunderland's fifth model - a remarkable achievement for a plant with only two lines.

It will be built on the same line as the Micra supermini and Nissan hopes to find buyers for about 100,000 each year. The flexibility built into the Sunderland plant allows the company to mix and match its output according to market conditions, boosting production of popular models and throttling back on slow movers.

This ability allows the Nissan plant to ride out market fluctuations far better than older factories that are locked into producing one or two models.

The Tone is a small people carrier built along similar lines to the Toyota Yaris Verso and its sister car, the Renault Modus.

Although demand for these mini-MPVs is moderate at the moment, the market is forecast to grow vigorously in the next few years.

Nissan designers have reached an agreement about what the new vehicle will look like, but insiders say the name may be changed.

"We haven't decided to call it the Tone yet," said a spokesman. "It depends on public reaction."

Although Nissan UK has won this battle, there remains the thorny question of where the next Almera will be built.

Although the Almera is still selling steadily - and is currently the best-selling import in Russia, where it went on sale earlier this year - the sprightly hatchback has not made the inroads company bosses were hoping for.

Currently manufactured in Sunderland, the Almera is due to be replaced by more than one vehicle - a larger version of the Tone and what is described as an aspirational vehicle with exciting 4x4 styling.

Nissan bosses in the North-East have no doubt already made their bid for the next-generation Almera and many believed yesterday's announcement would confirm they had won the contract.

Instead, Nissan UK said: "We continue to build the Almera until a decision is made about its replacement. At the moment, the plan is to manufacture the Tone alongside the Micra, Almera and the Primera.

"No decision has been made as to where the model or models that will replace the Almera should be built."

Of course, if the Tone is a raging success, it may fill the gap left by the loss of Almera production - currently about 50,000 vehicles per year.

But moving the medium-sized hatch may cast a cloud over the future of the plant's biggest car, the Primera. It currently produces about 85,000 per year. By 2006, when the Tone is due to go on sale, the Almera will be at or near the end of its life.

Will the two cars ever be built alongside one another?

One thing is for certain: it will not be for lack of trying by the North-East workforce.