Nissan CUTTING jobs in Sunderland as Diesel sales slump

Nissan are cutting jobs at their Sunderland Plant in the UK as demand for diesel-engined cars slumps across Europe reports the Financial Times.

Jaguar Land Rover have been tweaking their workforce as demand for diesel-engined cars starts to bite, and it looks like Nissan are about to do the same at their Sunderland Plant.

The Financial Times is reporting that hundreds of jobs are set to be lost in Sunderland as the fall in demand for diesel cars across Europe has led to a fall in output.

But unlike JLR, which depends on diesel sales for around 80 per cent of their volume, Nissan’s Sunderland Plant is only reliant on diesel sales for around a quarter of its production, meaning the impact is not as great for them.

Speaking to the FT, a Nissan spokesman said that they are having to manage a short term reduction in demand as they transition to a new range of powertrains, and expect more jobs to be created as that happens, and a further increase as the next generation Qashqai, Juke and X-Trail arrive.

Nissan also say the (temporary) cuts in the workforce – expected to be in the hundreds, and based on voluntary losses – are not related to Brexit and are just a symptom of the rapid decline in diesel demand.

So it’s short term bad news for Sunderland, but nothing to panic about.