New Nissan Leaf EV production begins in Sunderland

Nissan has begun manufacturing the third generation of the all-electric Leaf at its Sunderland factory in the North East of England.

The Japanese carmaker has invested over £450 million in the development of this third-generation Leaf, including £300m towards modernising the Sunderland plant. The site employs 6,000 staff and is the UK’s largest car factory capable of producing up to 600,000 cars each year.

Sunderland has been building the Leaf since 2013, with 282,704 of them manufactured at the facility to date.

Nissan’s updates to the Sunderland factory include 137 new moulds for the new Leaf’s body panels, 78 new high-tech robots in the body shop, a fully automated laser weld facility, plus a state-of-the-art battery/chassis marriage facility capable of applying 26 bolts to components in 56 seconds.

Nissan has also worked with AESC to expand its battery manufacturing facility opposite the assembly plant, which is responsible for producing the batteries for the Leaf and the new, all-electric Nissan Juke. When it arrives next year, the Juke will also be built at the Sunderland plant.

Speaking at a ceremony next to the Leaf’s production line at the Nissan Sunderland factory, the UK Government’s business and trade secretary, Peter Kyle, said: “Sunderland is the beating heart of the UK’s automotive industry, and Nissan’s investment is a major commitment to the North East and a huge vote of confidence in our economy.

“Through this government’s modern Industrial Strategy, we’re delivering £4 billion into our world-leading auto sector, the biggest investment into the car industry since the post-war era, driving growth, innovation and jobs across the country.”

Despite some “mixed messaging” from the recent Autumn Budget regarding electric vehicles, Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s government has rolled out the Electric Car Grant to help boost EV adoption across the UK and pledged an additional £200m towards improving the public EV charging network.

With order books now open, this latest UK-built Nissan Leaf is priced from £32,349 for the entry-level Engage trim car, which has a 215bhp and 386 miles of range courtesy of a 75kWh battery. Nissan says that initial deliveries will be made in February next year.

Earlier in 2025, EV Powered travelled to Denmark to get an early drive in the latest Nissan Leaf. To find out what we thought, click here to watch our video review.