Nissan Kicks e-POWER to be built in Sunderland

Nissan has announced it will invest £170 million to build the Kicks e-POWER hybrid crossover at its Sunderland plant, giving the British factory a new model for the European market and marking the first time the Kicks has been offered to customers in Europe. The announcement, made on 16 September, is the second model-related boost for Sunderland this month and arrives as the plant celebrates 40 years of vehicle production. The Kicks is a compact B-segment crossover that will be built alongside the Qashqai, Juke and Leaf, becoming the tenth model to roll off the Sunderland line since production began in 1986. It will use Nissan's third-generation e-POWER hybrid system, launched in 2025, in which a petrol engine acts purely as a generator while the wheels are driven by an electric motor. The current second-generation Kicks is built in Japan, Mexico and Brazil for global markets, but Sunderland will now supply cars for the UK, Europe and Turkey. The £170 million investment is part of Nissan's EV36Zero programme, which is transforming the Sunderland site into a hub combining vehicle assembly, renewable power generation and battery manufacturing. The plant has produced 12 million vehicles over its 40 years, starting with the first Bluebird in 1986, and remains Britain's largest car assembly plant. The announcement was welcomed by the UK government. Jonathan Reynolds, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said the decision was a huge vote of confidence in the UK's manufacturing expertise and automotive future, adding that the partnership between government and industry was delivering investment and skilled jobs across the country. Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, called it a major boost for Nissan Sunderland and the wider local supply chain, describing it as another vote of confidence in UK automotive manufacturing. The timing matters. Nissan has been restructuring globally to cut costs, ditching some plants, cutting jobs and shelving future models including the electric Qashqai, which raised concerns about Sunderland's long-term prospects. In June the company even revealed it was exploring renting out one of Sunderland's two production lines to fast-growing Chinese manufacturer Chery. The Kicks allocation, alongside the planned A-segment electric Pixo due to be unveiled next week, signals that Nissan sees a productive future for the factory rather than managed decline. For UK buyers, the Kicks will slot into the fiercely contested B-segment crossover market, rivalling cars such as the Toyota Corolla Cross, Hyundai Kona and Kia Seltos. Parkers notes that the model has already sold 1.8 million units worldwide and that it is expected to eventually replace the Juke in Nissan's European range. The third-generation e-POWER system under the bonnet pairs a 1.4-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine with electric drive for a claimed fuel figure of around 3.9 litres per 100 kilometres. Nissan gave no timeline for the start of production, and prices for the European-spec car have yet to be announced. With the factory celebrating four decades, the region set to benefit from more than £3.3 billion of electrification investment since 2021, and the electric Pixo reveal to follow, Sunderland's story for 2026 looks like growth rather than contraction. The Kicks announcement suggests Nissan intends to keep electrified choice at the heart of its European lineup, and UK manufacturing at the heart of its supply.

Nissan to build Kicks e-POWER in Sunderland with £170m investment