Nissan axes 250 jobs at major UK car plant as electric vehicle sales stall

Hundreds of workers at Nissan's Sunderland factory are set to lose their jobs as the car giant struggles with falling electric vehicle (EV) demand and tumbling profits.

The Japanese carmaker confirmed it will cut around 250 jobs at the North East plant - equivalent to around four percent of its 6,000-strong workforce - as part of a voluntary redundancy scheme.

The job losses will impact office staff and shop floor supervisors, while production line workers will be spared, Nissan said.

It's a blow to Britain's biggest car plant, which has been a key player in the UK's automotive industry since it opened in 1986, once famously producing the Nissan Bluebird. Today, it remains Nissan's only manufacturing site in Europe - and the largest employer in Sunderland.

The cuts are part of a major cost-cutting drive as the company tries to claw back ¥400bn (£2bn) after a brutal year that saw electric vehicle sales falter across Europe.

Nissan has pumped billions into its plan to become aleading EV maker, including a huge £2bn investment to overhaul its Sunderland site for electric car production - with the aim of phasing out petrol and diesel models by 2030.

But the gamble has hit a snag. Interest in EVs hasn't kept pace with expectations, hitting Nissan's bottom line. Weak demand in China, pricing battles in the US, and soaring costs for energy and labour have further squeezed profits.

It culminated in a devastating financial result - an 88 percent plunge in profits for the full year 2025, marking the company's worst performance in a quarter of a century.

In response, Nissan has outlined sweeping plans to restructure, which includes cutting around 20,000 jobs from its global workforce of 133,500.

A Nissan spokesman said: "This week we are beginning discussions with some of our team in Sunderland about the opportunity to voluntarily leave Nissan, with support from the company."

The move comes as yet another sign of pressure mounting on traditional carmakers amid the bumpy shift to electric - and the difficult balancing act between future investment and short-term survival.