Jatco, a subsidiary of Nissan Motor, has abandoned plans to manufacture electric vehicle powertrains in Sunderland due to weaker-than-expected demand for Nissan electric vehicles in Europe, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.
Jatco had announced in January 2025 that it would invest £48.7 million ($66 million) in a Sunderland facility designed to produce up to 340,000 electric vehicle powertrain units annually for Nissan.
The planned production was intended to cover integrated EV powertrains combining motors, inverters and reducers.
However, later in 2025, Nissan announced broader restructuring measures after weakening vehicle sales in the United States and China affected the company’s financial performance.
The automaker said at the time it would reduce its global vehicle production plants to 10 from 17 and review operations at its powertrain facilities.
Neither Nissan nor Jatco immediately commented on the report outside normal business hours. A request submitted through Jatco’s website had not received a response at the time of publication.
The reported cancellation adds to mounting uncertainty around EV-related manufacturing investments in Europe as automakers adjust production strategies amid slowing demand growth and rising competitive pressure in the electric vehicle sector.
Separately, Mercedes-Benz said on Friday it plans to launch its urban point-to-point assisted driving system in Germany later this year as automakers accelerate development of advanced driver assistance technologies for European roads.
The company joins rivals including BMW and Tesla in pursuing expanded self-driving technology deployments in Europe.
