Iconic car brand’s boss sparks fears over future of huge UK factory as he slams huge ‘costs of everything’
A TOP boss of an iconic car brand has slammed Britain as “not a competitive place” to build motors.
Alan Johnson blasted soaring costs and highlighted that his firm’s Sunderland plant forks out more for electricity than any of their other ones.
The Nissan official told MPs that the car giant‘s high UK costs trump those in factories as far as India, the Middle East and Africa.
Speaking to the Business and Trade Committee, the senior vice president for manufacturing at Nissan warned that the UK car industry was on the back foot.
He said: “It is energy costs, it is the cost of everything involved in the cost of labour, training.
“It is the supplier base or lack of. All sorts of different issues.”
The top boss added: “Ultimately, the UK is not a competitive place to be building cars today.”
It comes after an ex-boss of the iconic car brand said it would be “mad” to close down its huge UK factory.
The Sunderland site – one of Britain’s biggest car factories – employs around 6,000 workers.
But back in February, the plant scrapped a late shift on one of its production lines.
Around 400 staff were affected, but no jobs were axed — with workers shifted to other lines in a bid to “maximise efficiency”.
The Japanese manufacturer revealed last year it would cut 9,000 jobs globally, after profits plummeted by a whopping £1.59billion in just six months.
Despite the grim outlook, Johnson praised moves to boost electric vehicle sales in the UK.
He also welcomed Labour’s move to ease up on strict Zero Emission Vehicle targets, which carmakers had warned could throttle production.
The Nissan boss also reassured MPs that Donald Trump’s tariffs only had a “small” impact on the plant.
He did however say that the company as a whole had been “impacted significantly” due to The Don’s new rules.
Exports from the UK to the US now face a 10% tariff, with a hefty special rate of 25% slapped on cars, steel and aluminium.
However, England‘s North East could avoid the worst consequences of the tariffs.
A North East Combined Authority meeting last week heard that just 6 per cent of the region’s car exports go to the States.
This compares to a third of them going worldwide – meaning the Sunderland plant is “less exposed” than other regions in the UK.
It comes after brewing fears over the future of the Sunderland plant after discussions over a merger with Honda collapsed.
Plans were in the works for the two car giants to use each other’s plants to build vehicles and create manufacturing capabilities that would rival Tesla.