Nissan has every confidence in the future competitiveness of its flagship UK plant despite Brexit fears, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday after "quality" discussions with the British government.
Interviewed by AFP, Carlos Ghosn declined to detail what specific assurances he had received from London before announcing last month that Nissan would build two new models at its plant in Sunderland, north-east England. But the head of the Nissan-Renault auto alliance said: "We made our investment decision based on our understanding that there is as much concern from our side (as) from the British government about the competitiveness of the plant no matter what happens with Brexit. "As long as we make commonly the same statements, we're OK. We went ahead with our investments."
Nissan's decision to go ahead with the new Qashqai sport utility vehicle and four-wheel-drive X-Trail model in Sunderland eased concerns about Brexit's impact on British industry. But British Business Minister Greg Clark caused a media firestorm after confirming that the government made several assurances to Nissan before the announcement.