New £50m deal to expand Sunderland EV facilities
The UKs’ EV industry has received a boost with a new £50 million investment deal to expand manufacturing in Sunderland.
The deal, agreed by powertrain specialist Jatco in partnership with Nissan and the UK government, will support the creation of a manufacturing facility to supply components for Nissan’s next generation of electric cars.
The new site will be Jatco’s first and only European plant and will produce 3-in-1 electric vehicle powertrains for Nissan’s neighbouring factory. From 2026, Jacto aims to produce 360,000 powertrains a year for the new all-electric Nissan Leaf, Juke and Qashqai, all of which are slated to be built at Nissan Sunderland.
Nissan is one of the UK’s biggest car makers, with around 6,000 staff at its Sunderland site. The new Jatco factory sits on the International Advanced Manufacturing Park close to Nissan’s manufacturing plant and the AESC battery factory. Initial construction is already complete and when the site is fitted out and fully operational it will create 183 new ‘high-value’ jobs as well as supporting over 400 more in the wider supply chain.
Tomoyoshi Sato, CEO of Jatco, said: “I am so proud to officially open Jatco UK in the North East of England. “And I am very grateful for the support of the UK Government, Sunderland City Council, and all others involved in the establishment of Jatco UK, and look forward to supporting Nissan’s EV36Zero project with our electric powertrains.”
Alan Johnson, senior vice president of manufacturing and supply chain for Nissan AMIEO, added: “This is a fantastic step forward for our world-first EV36Zero plan. Welcoming a key supplier to the North East of England provides a big boost to the efficiency of our supply chain. We look forward to continuing our long and successful partnership as we push towards our electric future.”
Jatco’s investment in the North East was secured with £12m of government funding through Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds commented: “Sunderland is the beating heart of the UK’s automotive industry. Today’s announcement is a massive vote of confidence in the UK economy and this government’s plans to make Britain the destination of choice for investment.
“Not only will this boost our thriving auto industry, but it will help secure hundreds of jobs across the North East.”
Nissan’s long-term UK future was thrown into doubt by Brexit but in 2021 the Japanese brand committed to maintaining its Sunderland operation and since 2023 it has committed to investing £2 billion to build its next-gen EVs in the UK.
