Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Ivan Espinosa declined on Thursday to identify the carmakers in discussions with the Japanese brand over potential use of spare capacity at its Sunderland plant in northeast England.
Speaking online at Financial Times Future of the Car summit the day after Nissan released full-year fiscal 2025 results, Espinosa said talks continue with “parties that are interested in working in the [Sunderland] plant.”
Asked directly whether Chinese state-owned automakers Chery and Dongfeng were among the potential partners in those discussions, the CEO neither confirmed nor denied the specific names — instead reaffirming that talks are progressing without disclosing counterparties.
The Capacity Question
Espinosa pushed back firmly on the framing that Sunderland’s cost structure is the underlying problem driving the partner search.
“The plant in Sunderland is a very cost competitive plant,” Espinosa said when asked about the high costs of energy and labour in the UK.
“What the plant is missing is volume, so we are missing volume, that’s why we are consolidating to one line.”
The CEO described the Sunderland facility as “one of the best we have worldwide” operationally, framing the partnership search as a volume problem rather than a competitiveness problem.
“What the plant needs is a stable, proper feed of volume,” Espinosa said whil adding that the company “will be able” to find a partner.
“So we will continue trying to find a partner and looking at the operational competitiveness of the plant, I’m sure we will be able to find an interested stakeholder to work with us in the plant.”
A New A-Segment Car
Espinosa also disclosed that Nissan is preparing to launch a new “small A-segment car” — though he did not confirm whether the model would be produced at Sunderland or sourced from a partner.
The Juke crossover sits in the competitive B-SUV segment of Nissan’s European lineup, where it lines up against rivals such as the Ford Puma and Volkswagen T-Cross.
The brand’s smallest model is now the all-new electric Micra, a B-segment.
Nissan is also preparing a dedicated A-segment electric city car for 2026.
This would represent the brand’s re-entry into the smallest car segment — an area that has become a strategic priority for Chinese OEMs, particularly BYD with its low-cost Dolphin Surf (also known as the Seagull in China).
The Re:Nissan Restructuring
Espinosa’s Sunderland comments build on the broader Re:Nissan recovery plan unveiled earlier this year.
Under that plan, the company is consolidating its two Sunderland production lines into one — merging output of the Qashqai, Juke, and Leaf — to drive operational efficiency.
The consolidation frees up Sunderland capacity for potential third-party use, with Chery reportedly among the parties exploring access to the plant.
The line consolidation is not expected to result in job losses at the Sunderland plant itself, though a small number of UK office and warehouse roles may be affected as part of 900 Europe-wide cuts out of approximately 9,300 European staff.
The plant remains central to Nissan’s UK and European operations.
In parallel, a related Jatco EV powertrain facility in Sunderland — initially planned to support 183 jobs — opened with only approximately 20 positions, reflecting the broader scaling-back of Nissan’s UK electrification investment under the new operating environment.
Fiscal Year 2025 Results
Nissan on Wednesday announced financial results for the full year and the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, ending March 31, 2026.
The company said it had made “steady progress” under the Re:Nissan plan amid what it described as a “challenging global operating environment marked by inflationary pressure, tariffs, and uneven market performance.”
“Looking ahead to FY2026, Nissan expects the business environment to remain challenging, with continued pressure from intensifying competition, foreign exchange fluctuations, inflation, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties,” the company said in its results statement.
“Against this backdrop, the company will continue to advance its Re:Nissan initiatives and remains committed to achieving positive automotive operating profit and free cash flow by the end of FY2026, excluding the impact of tariffs.”
The “excluding the impact of tariffs” caveat is significant.
Nissan’s free cash flow recovery thesis depends in part on the company’s ability to absorb or pass through the cost of the 25% Section 232 vehicle tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in 2025 — a constraint that the company has not yet fully neutralized through pricing or production adjustments.
Chery’s potential involvement would mark the second high-profile Chinese-OEM acquisition or use of a former Nissan facility in Europe, after Chery reached an agreement to acquire Nissan’s Rosslyn plant in South Africa earlier this year — with completion expected mid-2026 and local production targeted to begin by end of 2027.
