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Nissan unveils £52m press line ahead of new Qashqai launch
Nissan has unveiled a new £52m XL press line at its Sunderland plant, as preparations ramp up for its new Qashqai model.
The press, which weighs more than 2,000 tonnes and has taken 18 months to install, is part of a £400m investment by Nissan in readiness for the new Qashqai, which will be the third-generation of the pioneering crossover.
The investment in the press includes a new recycling system to segregate and process scrap, and upgrades to the existing blanking line which will supply flat blanks (the sheets of metal that are ready to be pressed) to the XL press. It is capable of stamping more than 6.1 million vehicle panels a year, with a maximum combined force of 5,400 tonnes.
Nissan has unveiled a new £52m press line which is part of a £400m investment in preparation for the new Qashqai / Picture: Nissan GB
Ashwani Gupta, Nissan’s chief operating officer, said: “When the first Nissan Qashqai rolled off the line in Sunderland in 2006 it created the crossover segment.
“Designed, engineered and made in the UK, and more than three million vehicles later, it remains the benchmark, just as our team in the UK continues to set the standard for productivity and quality.”
This March also marks ten years since the first Nissan Juke rolled off the line in Sunderland. The all-new version has been made exclusively in Sunderland since October last year, bringing new levels of technology and connectivity to the compact crossover category.
Steve Marsh, vice president, manufacturing, at Nissan Sunderland Plant, added: “Watching the first perfect panels coming off the press was a proud moment, and is a reflection of the tremendous skills we have here on Wearside.
“Juke is an iconic model. I know I speak for the whole plant in saying how proud we are to see the fantastic new version out on the roads, and that we are determined to keep delivering it to the quality levels our customers have come to expect.”
The £400m invested for Qashqai comes on top of the £100m invested for the launch of new Juke, and is part of an overall £1bn planned investment into the plant by Nissan over five years. To support certain elements of the £400m investment, Nissan has received support from the UK Government’s Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.