Nissan has announced that its Sunderland plant has produced its 10 millionth vehicle – 33 years after the factory opened.
If all the models built at the factory, situated in the north-east of England, were parked nose to tail, the line would be more than 26,000 miles long – more than the circumference of the planet’s equator.
The factory was built on the site of a former airfield and when it opened, 470 workers were employed. Now, around 7,000 employees work on the three models that are built at the plant – the Juke, all-electric Leaf and best-selling Qashqai crossover.
The landmark model, a Vivid Blue Qashqai in Tekna specification, featured the Japanese firm’s ProPilot driver assistance technology that allows the vehicle to take control of the steering and speed on motorways. It works during heavy traffic and high-speed cruising.
This model made the Nissan Sunderland plant the fastest to produce 10 million vehicles in British motoring history.
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The factory’s vice president, Steve Marsh, said: “Building 10 million vehicles is a tremendous achievement for everyone associated with the plant.
“Reaching this huge figure has called on all the ingenuity, commitment and spirit of our highly skilled workforce, many of who hail from the north-east of England.
“Together we are determined to continue to drive up the high quality standards our customers have come to expect over the last three decades.”
In the past, the factory has been used to build the Micra, Primera, Almera, Note and Bluebird, as well as the Infiniti Q30.
