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A record to be proud of
THE North-East is rightly proud of Nissan
Sunderland's achievements. The factory
has been the most efficient car plant
in Europe for more than a decade.
That is a fantastic record of achievement
for an area with no tradition of car
manufacturing until Nissan opened in
1984.
Now it seems that production of the
model which really made the plant's
name, the Micra super-mini, could be
moving abroad before the replacement
model arrives in 2010.
According to reports at the weekend,
the Micra is no longer profitable because
it is competing against models made in
low-cost economies.
Peugeot has already switched production
of its super-mini from Coventry to Trnava,
in Slovakia, Volkswagen has a factory
in Bratislava, Slovakia, which makes
the cheap Polo, Peugeot, Citroen and Toyota
all make small cars in the Czech Republic.
Even auto makers in Korea - until recently
the cheapest place to build cars -
are scrambling to set up shop in Eastern
Europe. This year, Hyundai will open a
factory in Nosovice, in the Czech Republic,
that will make power-plants and transmissions
for Kia as well as its own locally-
built cars.
Critics claim car companies have received
huge grants to move east. The
truth is more prosaic: wages are, on average,
85 per cent lower than here in Western
Europe. Nissan cannot afford to be
sentimental about its British satellite.
Luckily, demand for the larger (and
therefore more profitable) Qashqai will
help fill the gap left by the Micra.
And, irrespective of the Micra decision,
the Sunderland plant remains a productivity
powerhouse. The declining strength
of the pound also makes the factory more
cost-competitive. It remains a shining beacon
of excellence - something for the region
to be proud of.
10:17am Monday 12th May 2008
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