Britain’s Biggest Car Factory Will Build Chinese Cars — Here’s WHY
2 min read
6 thousand people most likely to work every morning at the Nissan plant in Sunderland. It’s the largest automobile factory in Britain, it’s been constructing Qashqais and Jukes on Wearside for forty years– and right now about half of it is standing still. Nissan has authorized an arrangement with a Chinese business to fill the vacant line. From 2027, the most significant vehicle manufacturing facility in this country could be constructing Chery cars.
Chinese brands took 15% of the British new cars and truck market in the first half of 2026– around 175,000 automobiles. Two years ago BYD had actually only just released right here and Chery Group didn’t exist in Britain at all. The Jaecoo 7 was the best-selling car in the nation outright in March, ahead of the Ford Puma and the Nissan Qashqai. In July, Chery by itself outsold Honda and Mazda combined.
In this video clip we count down 10 British automobile plants and what happened to each of them– Ford Bridgend, Honda Swindon, Vauxhall Luton, Jaguar Castle Bromwich, MG Rover Longbridge, and the JLR sites at Solihull, Halewood and Wolverhampton. Primary is still open. That’s the trouble.
Longbridge is the component most individuals have forgotten, and it’s the reason Sunderland matters. A British cars and truck firm falls short. A Chinese business buys the badge. The manufacturing facility continues for some time structure automobiles for the brand-new owner. It stops. Twenty-one years later, MG is the largest Chinese brand in Britain and outsells the British brands it utilized to be.
We additionally cover the Freelander– a British nameplate currently certified to Chery as a standalone Chinese brand name, with the UK clearly in extent– and what the Sunderland bargain would really imply if it goes in advance. Including the situation for it, which Unite has actually made publicly and which is entitled to a reasonable hearing.
Note: the Nissan– Chery contract is a non-binding memorandum of understanding. Discussions are continuous and it might not take place in all.
Did you function at among these plants, or did somebody in your household? Kind the number one in the remarks.
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Covered: Nissan Sunderland plant, Chery UK, Jaecoo 7, Chinese autos UK market share, MG Rover Longbridge closure, Honda Swindon closure, Ford Bridgend, Vauxhall Luton, Jaguar Castle Bromwich, JLR cyber attack, Freelander Chery, British vehicle manufacturing, BYD UK, Omoda, UK automobile manufacturing facility closures
