Nissan’s boss said the world ‘needs to move on’ as he confirmed plans to build electric cars in Britain.
Speaking just days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushed back the ban on new petrol and diesel engines from 2030 to 2035, Makoto Uchida said: ‘There’s no going back. The world needs to move on from internal combustion engines. We have a responsibility to be part of the solution.’
And the 57-year-old said Nissan would be all-electric by 2030 – with the Sunderland plant central to the plans to go green – despite Sunak’s delay.
Nissan boss Makoto Uchida
The announcement undermines claims that the Prime Minister’s decision last week to push the ban on new petrol and diesel cars back by five years would hit crucial investment in Britain.
Nissan employs more than 7,000 workers in the UK, including 6,000 at its Sunderland plant where it builds the Qashqai and Juke SUVs, and the all-electric Leaf.
It also has a battery factory, design centre in London and engineering centre in Cranfield in Bedfordshire. All would play a key part in creating the next generation of electric cars, said Uchida.
Speaking at an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the design centre, he said: ‘Here in the UK we will be designing and engineering the EV of the future. It will be built in Sunderland.’
Referring to Sunak’s decision, Uchida said: ‘From this point on, every single new Nissan launched in Europe will be electric. It’s the right thing to do.’
Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover hailed the delay to the ban as ‘pragmatic’ but Ford warned it could hit investment.
#fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle#mobile {display:none} #fiveDealsWidget {display:block; float:left; clear:both; max-width:636px; margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; font-size:12px} #fiveDealsWidget div, #fiveDealsWidget a {margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; text-decoration: none; font-family:Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif} #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitleBox {display:block; float:left; width:100%; background-color:#af1e1e; } #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitle {color:#fff; text-transform: uppercase; font-size:18px; font-weight:bold; margin:6px 10px 4px 10px; } #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {float:left; display:block; width:124px; margin-right:4px; margin-top:5px; background-color: #e3e3e3; min-height:200px;} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {margin-right:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {display:block; margin:10px 5px; color:#000; font-weight:bold} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {float:left; display:block; margin:0; padding:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {border:1px solid #ccc} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {width:100%; height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemdesc {float:left; display:block; color:#004db3; font-weight:bold; margin:5px;} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemRate {float:left; display:block; color:#000; margin:5px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealFooter {display:block; float:left; width:100%; margin-top:5px; background-color:#e3e3e3 } #fiveDealsWidget .footerText {font-size:10px; margin:10px 10px 10px 10px;} @media (max-width: 635px) { #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {width:19%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:20%} } @media (max-width: 560px) { #fiveDealsWidget #desktop {display:none;} #fiveDealsWidget #mobile {display:block!important} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {background-color: #fff; height:auto; min-height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {border-bottom:1px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:10px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {border-bottom:0px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:0px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem, #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:100%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {float:left; display:inline-block} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {width:35%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent {width:63%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {margin: 0px 5px 5px; font-size:16px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemdesc, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemRate {clear:both} }
