North East motor manufacturer Nissan is poised to announce commitment to the production of new electric models at its Sunderland plant, reports have claimed.

The Japanese car giant – maker of the Qashqai and Juke models at its Washington plant – has already pledged that all of its new cars sold in Europe will be electric by 2030, despite a rollback by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, pushing back the switch to electric vehicles by five years. Now reports have claimed that the company is set to make a further announcement on Friday to build new electric models.

The Sunderland site of car giant Nissan is already gearing up to launch production of two new eco-friendly versions of its popular crossover vehicles – the Juke and the new electrified version of the Qashqai, the plant’s most successful ever model. The company launched a recruitment programme to recruit for 300 people in preparation for the production lines, to work in areas including manufacturing, engineering and maintenance.

The company currently makes electric vehicles and benefits from having its own battery supplier – AESC – next door to its factory. The Japanese firm is building a new, 1,000-job £450m plant at the site, to expand the number of batteries it can make. It will have the capacity of 12 GWh once operational, producing enough batteries to power more than 100,000 electric vehicles.

The news from Nissan this week is expected to reveal that Government support will form part of a package that has secured fresh investment. The level of investment is reported to be in the region of £1bn and will be supported by a contribution from the Government's automotive transformation fund. Earlier this week, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch announced a £4.5bn fund for “strategic” manufacturing sectors, with £2.5bn of that to be given to zero emission investments in the automotive sector – an announcement Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said had been “warmly welcomed by Nissan and Toyota” in his Autumn Statement yesterday.

Nissan, which established its Sunderland site in 1986, announced its EV36Zero plan in 2021, a huge project which sees it working with AESC and Sunderland City Council in a wider £1bn plan to produce more electric vehicles at the Sunderland plant. In September it said that all of its new cars sold in Europe would be electric by 2030, despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delaying the switch to electric vehicles by five years.

Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s president and CEO, said at the time: “EV is the ultimate mobility solution. More than a million customers have already joined our journey and experienced the fun of a Nissan electric vehicle, and there is no turning back now. EVs powered by renewables are key to us achieving carbon neutrality, which is central to our Ambition 2030 vision. Nissan will make the switch to full electric by 2030 in Europe – we believe it is the right thing to do for our business, our customers and for the planet.”