Nissan demands Brexit guarantees for Sunderland plant

Nissan is demanding guarantees from the Government over the impact from Brexit on its business before it commits to future investment.

The Japanese manufacturer, whose Sunderland's car plant is Britain's biggest, wants the UK to pledge compensation for any tax barriers that may be raised as a result of leaving the European Union.

Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said it could not afford to "wait until the end of Brexit" for a deal.

Britain's car industry body said investment was being hit by uncertainty following the Leave vote.

The Sunderland plant is Nissan's biggest factory in Europe, with a capacity of 500,000 vehicles a year.

It represents around a third of Britain's total car output.

The plant's 6,700 workers turn out Juke, Qashqai and Leaf models, many of them for export to the continent.

Nissan is due to decide early next year on where to build its next Qashqai vehicle.

But there are fears among car makers that Britain could be heading towards a "hard Brexit" which would leave them paying tariffs to export UK-made cars to Europe.

Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters at the Paris motor show: "If I need to make an investment in the next few months and I can't wait until the end of Brexit, then I have to make a deal with the UK Government.

"You can have commitments of compensation in case you have something negative.

"If there are tax barriers being established on cars, you have to have a commitment for carmakers who export to Europe that there is some kind of compensation.

"If these kinds of principles are accepted we can go ahead because it will neutralise some of our concerns.

"We would like to stay. We're happy, we have a good plant, which is productive but we cannot stay if the conditions do not justify that we stay."

Sunderland voted overwhelmingly to leave the European Union in the 23 June referendum, with 61% or 82,394 of 134,400 voting out.

Across the North East only one of 12 areas - Newcastle - vote to stay in the EU.

Mr Ghosn's comments echo concerns from fellow Japanese car maker Toyota.

It said the imposition of duties as part of a Brexit deal would make running its English plant "very, very tough".

Mike Hawes, head of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said: "The current uncertainty is not conducive to attracting manufacturing investment to the UK.

"The Government must do all it can to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector, which has been hugely successful in boosting exports, creating jobs and generating economic growth in recent years."

Britain's mainly foreign-owned car industry employs more than 800,000 people according to SMMT data.

It exported 1.2 million cars last year, most of them to European countries.