Iconic car brand's boss sparks fears over future of huge UK factory as he slams huge ‘costs of everything'
A TOP boss of an iconic car brand has slammed Britain as "not a competitive place" to build motors.
Alan Johnson blasted soaring costs and highlighted that his firm's Sunderland plant forks out more for electricity than any of their other ones.
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A top boss has slammed Britain as 'not a competitive place' to build motors
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The Sunderland plant faces high electricity costs
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Soaring prices have led caused the top boss to slam UK car production
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The
Speaking to the Business and Trade Committee, the senior vice president for manufacturing at Nissan warned that the UK car industry was on the back foot.
He said: "It is energy costs, it is the cost of everything involved in the cost of labour, training.
"It is the supplier base or lack of. All sorts of different issues."
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The top boss added: "Ultimately, the UK is not a competitive place to be building cars today."
It comes after an ex-boss of the iconic car brand said it would be "
The
Sunderland
But back in February, the plant scrapped a late shift on one of its production lines.
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Around 400 staff were affected, but no jobs were axed — with workers shifted to other lines in a bid to "maximise efficiency".
Nissan's gloomy future
The Japanese manufacturer revealed last year it would cut 9,000 jobs globally, after profits plummeted by a whopping £1.59billion in just six months.
Despite the grim outlook, Johnson praised moves to boost
He also welcomed Labour's move to ease up on strict Zero Emission Vehicle targets, which carmakers had warned could throttle production.
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The Nissan boss also reassured MPs that Donald Trump's tariffs only had a "small" impact on the plant.
He did however say that the company as a whole had been "impacted significantly" due to The Don's new rules.
Exports from the UK to the US now face a 10% tariff, with a hefty special rate of 25% slapped on cars, steel and aluminium.
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Nissan's Sunderland plant faces higher costs and soaring prices
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The Sunderland plant is one of the UK's biggest car manufacturers
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However, England's North East could avoid the worst consequences of the tariffs.
A North East Combined Authority meeting last week heard that just 6 per cent of the region's car exports go to the States.
This compares to a third of them going worldwide - meaning the Sunderland plant is "less exposed" than other regions in the UK.
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It comes after brewing fears over the
future
of the Sunderland plant after discussions over a
Plans were in the works for the two car giants to use each other's plants to build vehicles and create manufacturing capabilities that would rival Tesla.
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It comes after recent fears for the car giant's future in the UK
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The brand as a whole has taken a hit since Donald Trump's imposed tariffs
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