Nissan Micra bids farewell to the UK

20 July 2010

Nissan UK has announced that its Sunderland plant will no longer produce Micra models and is preparing to roll out the all-new Juke crossover car by

Nissan UK has announced that its Sunderland plant will no longer produce Micra models and is preparing to roll out the all-new Juke crossover car by mid-August. The last Micra produced in the plant drove off the line on 16 July.

Nissan's Sunderland plant has been manufacturing Micra for nearly two decades, with the first model - 'K11' - introduced into the UK market in August 1992.

The Sunderland plant produced approximately 1.4 million K11 Micras until it was replaced by the striking 'K12' Micra in 2002. Around one million K12 Micras were built in eight years of production, including the plant's very first 'open top' model - the 2005 C+C (Coupe + Convertible). In total, the plant has produced 2,368,704 Micras since 1992.

"I think everyone will be sorry to see the last Micra come off the line. When you produce a model for as long as we have produced Micra, it almost becomes part of your plant's identity", said Kevin Fitzpatrick, vice president of Manufacturing of Nissan UK. "Micra's departure frees up capacity on our lines meaning we can now look forward to producing the Juke in August".

"It's sad to see Micra production end in Sunderland, but we have a fantastic product replacing it in Juke. It's quite an achievement for the plant to think there are well over 2 million Sunderland-built Micras out there", added Keith Watson, production supervisor of Nissan UK, who worked on the very first Sunderland-built Micra in 1992.

Nonetheless, this does not signal the end of Micra's story. The latest model, which was unveiled at Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, will be manufactured in several facilities around the world, including Chennai, India.

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