Nissan unveiled a new £52 million XL press line at its Sunderland manufacturing plant last Friday as it prepares to ramp up production of the new Qashqai.

The press, which weighs more than 2,000 tonnes and has taken 18 months to install, is part of a £400 million investment plan in the car maker’s UK facilities in readiness for the new Qashqai.

The first specially commissioned panels on the press were produced at an official ceremony last week, led by Nissan chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta, who 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.”

The £52 million investment in the new press includes a new recycling system to segregate and process scrap, and upgrades to the existing blanking line which will supply flat blanks (the sheetmetal 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, all to pinpoint accuracy.

As part of the opening ceremony today, the whole team behind the press project signed the first panel – a fender for the new Juke.

Related: Hard Brexit could mean more investment in Nissan Sunderland plant

March 2020 marks the 10^th anniversary of the first Juke to roll 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 of manufacturing at the company’s Sunderland plant, said: “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.”

To support certain elements of this £400 million investment, Nissan has received support from the UK Government’s Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Nissan
www.nissan.co.uk

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