Nissan’s chief operating officer has said that Brexit “is a positive” for the carmaker, and that it will be moving battery production from Japan to Britain.
“Brexit for Nissan is a positive. We’ll take this opportunity to redefine the auto industry in the UK. In certain conditions, our competitiveness is improved. For some of the cases, it is at par. It depends on which car, but competitiveness is definitely improved in electric vehicles,” said Ashwani Gupta, speaking from Yokohama, Japan.
“Sunderland is one of the top three plants in the world for competitiveness for Nissan. Brexit gives us the competitive advantage in the UK and outside,” the auto executive added, referring to the city in the North of England where its British manufacturing is centred.
Moreover, Gupta announced that the carmaker will move to “localise the manufacture of the 62KW battery in Sunderland so that all our products qualify [for tariff-free export to the EU],” where they had previously been imported from Asia.
The move contrasts sharply with the pre-referendum claims of ‘Project Fear’ — the Remainer scare campaign aimed at terrorising British voters into rejecting Brexit with threats of mass job losses, punishment budgets, and soaring sock prices, among other dire and ridiculous threats.
Nissan was one of several high-profile manufacturers voters which Remainers warned would abandon Brexit Britain, making its decision to not just stay but to expand its operations, even with the Chinese coronavirus related downturn, particularly emblematic for Leavers.
“Nissan’s decision represents a genuine belief in Britain and a huge vote of confidence in our economy thanks to the vital certainty that our trade deal with the EU has given the auto sector,” commented Kwasi Kwarteng, Boris Johnson’s Secretary of State for Business.
“For the dedicated and highly-skilled workforce in Sunderland, it means the city will be home to Nissan’s latest models for years to come and positions the company to capitalise on the wealth of benefits that will flow from electric vehicle production as part,” he added.
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