The money, part of a 12.92 million pounds to be spent over the next four years for the aforementioned goal, will help save some 130 jobs at the Sunderland facility and even add some 200 others by 2013.
The engines to be built by Nissan in Sunderland will be Euro 5 and Euro 6 compliant. They are intended for several vehicles of its range, including the Qashqai built in the UK. As said, Nissan is considering shipping some of its output to St. Petersburg, to be used in the X-Trail.
"The announcement is part of Nissan's ongoing initiative to localise production close to, or within, target markets. This minimises logistics costs and reduces exposure to exchange rates as well as allowing the company to react more quickly to customer demand," the automaker said in a statement quoted by just-auto.com.
Nissan plans to further expand its business into Europe, even if not in the internal combustion engine segment. The automaker already announced it plans on building, in Sunderland, a battery manufacturing plant.
“Sunderland could now be a strong contender to produce electric vehicles for Nissan in Europe, and we will continue to work with Nissan to ensure this happens,” UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.
The Sunderland facility is experiencing a good period, as Nissan decided last week to add some 100 new jobs there, this after in May and June hired an additional 250.
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