The high demand for the Qashqai crosSUVer has made Nissan launch a temporary third production shift at its manufacturing plant in Sunderland, UK. This shift was withdrawn last January due to the global economic crisis. The vehicle is expected to become more desirable in March when the upgraded version goes on sale across Europe.
The Japanese manufacturer therefore announced that a nightshift will be added to the Qashqai production line starting May and will be maintained for around six months.
“Nissan is committed to delivering customers’ cars as quickly as possible, and our staff in Sunderland has been working incredibly hard to achieve this,” Trevor Mann, Nissan Senior Vice President for Manufacturing Europe said in a release.
“However, Qashqai continues to buck the trend of a generally depressed market, and we have now identified the need for an additional shift to cover a high volume request in the first half of the 2010 Financial Year. Doing so will allow us to get cars to our customers more quickly and also provide the significant increase to production needed to fill the delivery pipeline to our European dealer network.”
Recruitment will begin next month for 400 new fixed-term manufacturing posts at the plant and allow retention of an existing 160 temporary staff. It is anticipated that additional posts will also be created across Nissan’s supply chain.
“As in 2008 the 3rd shift will be a temporary measure, but it will provide a welcome boost to the plant, our suppliers and the manufacturing sector in the North East during what is forecast to be another tough year for the car industry,” Mann added.
The carmaker also posted a note in which it states the nightshift contractual hours will be 23.15 - 07.05.
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