Nissan sites around Europe are said to be taking part in a bidding process to take on production of the third-generation Qashqai crossover, reports The Sunday Times. According to the newspaper, sites in France, Spain and Russia will be competing with the current home of this model, Sunderland (United Kingdom). Sources close to the situation said that the decision on this model was likely to be taken in early 2017.
Significance: The Nissan Qashqai is a massively important model for the Sunderland production site and during the past five years, production has averaged around 295,000 units per annum (upa) despite the transition to a new generation. This is around 60% of production, the rest being made up of Nissan's Note, Juke and Leaf. However, this is a typical process that is undertaken by automakers to stoke internal competition to achieve the most cost-effective production for this model. Potentially throwing a spanner in the works of the attractiveness of the Sunderland site on this occasion is the forthcoming referendum on the UK remaining in the European Union (EU) during June 2016 and the unknowns this throws up with regards trading with Europe, the biggest customer of this model. However, given the efficiencies that the plant achieves in its production, particularly of the Qashqai, it may be difficult for Nissan to move it. Although the newspaper suggests that the French government could leverage its stake in Renault to influence the future of production of this vehicle, steering it instead towards France, this would be likely to cause further fractures in the relationship between the three sides, which reached an accord last year following the government increasing its shareholding in Renault.
