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Nissan to announce new investment

Japanese car giant Nissan is expected to announce fresh investment in its Sunderland factory today.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson will visit the firm’s plant where he will address some of the company’s 4,000 workers, alongside Nissan’s senior vice president Trevor Mann.

The company refused to comment on speculation that it was due to announce electric car production in Britain, following a similar move by Toyota last week.

Nissan would not comment on its plans ahead of Monday’s announcement, but it is believed to involve investment in low carbon technology.

The carmaker and its partner Renault plan to launch electric cars in the US and Japan from next year and globally from 2012.

In April the European Investment Bank approved up to hundreds of millions of pounds to be split between Nissan’s operations in Britain and Spain for the “accelerated introduction” in the market of low-carbon-emission vehicles.

Lord Mandelson is expected to tell workers about plans to create a “low-carbon economic area” in the North East, including a research and development centre and technology park for automotive suppliers.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .