Nissan invests £170 million in Kicks production in Sunderland
Nissan is investing £170 million in the production of the Kicks compact crossover at its plant in Sunderland, United Kingdom. The model, which has not previously been officially sold on the European market, will be produced for buyers in the United Kingdom, Europe and Turkey. This was reported by Motor1.
E-Power hybrid system
The Sunderland version of the Nissan Kicks will receive the third-generation E-Power hybrid system. In this setup, the wheels are driven solely by an electric motor, while the 1.4-liter gasoline engine operates exclusively as an electricity generator.
The system uses a layout Nissan calls 5-in-1: the electric motor, generator, inverter, reduction gear and step-up converter are combined in a single unit. According to the company, more than 1.9 million vehicles with E-Power technology have been sold worldwide since 2016. In particular, approximately 200,000 hybrid Qashqai E-Power vehicles have been produced in the United Kingdom.
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The plant's third electrified model
The Kicks will become another model produced in Sunderland. The facility already manufactures the hybrid Qashqai and Juke E-Power. The Kicks and Juke belong to the B-segment compact crossover class, while the Qashqai is a larger C-segment model.
Nissan's Sunderland plant has been operating since 1986, when the first Bluebird rolled off its assembly line. Since then, the facility has produced more than 11 million vehicles, including the Primera, Micra, Almera, Note, Qashqai, Juke and Leaf. About 6,000 people currently work directly at the plant.
According to Motor1, production of the Qashqai, Juke, Leaf and Kicks is planned to be concentrated on one line at the facility. Nissan has meanwhile halted its previously planned project to produce the fully electric Qashqai in Sunderland.
