Nissan is ‘open’ to making cars for Chinese car makers in Sunderland, says CEO
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa has opened the door to Chinese carmakers who might want the Japanese firm to produce models for them at its factory in Sunderland.
With BYD opening its first European factory in Hungary later this year, Chinese automakers are looking at different ways to gain a foothold in production in Europe to avoid tariffs. There are also rumors that Chery could use its relationship with JLR to produce cars in the UK, while Nissan already has a collaboration with Chinese brand Dongfeng in China.
Now Nissan has said it would be open to building cars for a Chinese carmaker in Sunderland.
In a presentation about the new Nissan Leaf, which was nominated for the World Car of the Year Award, Espinosa was asked whether the business model of the new Nissan Leaf included platform sharing with other automakers. He was also asked whether the Sunderland factory could produce cars on the Leaf platform for other brands in China to help them enter the European market.
“We are always open,” Espinosa said. “We announced that we would be working with Mitsubishi to provide them with a car in North America.
“Of course, we’re staying open. We believe that at least at this stage, creating more awareness of electric vehicles is a necessary thing. Partnering and working with some other companies is also something that will help bring more electric vehicles to the market.”
“At the same time, it’s not a secret; it helps our overall business by adding a little more scale to the programs. So the answer is yes, we’re open, we don’t have anything to share in Europe at the moment, but it’s something we’re open to evaluating.”
Nissan has invested heavily in Sunderland, spending a total of £450 million to produce the new Leaf, which ushered in the rise of the mass-produced EV when it was launched in 2010. The model is currently in its third generation. The batteries of the new model are produced in the factory next to the Nissan factory.
The new Leaf comes at a crucial time for Nissan. Featuring an advanced e-Power hybrid system that allows the car to be powered by petrol and powered by an electric motor, the Nissan Qashqai has consistently been one of the UK’s best-selling vehicles. But Nissan has seen UK sales fall by more than 10 per cent in 2025. Across Europe, the decline was less pronounced, but it was still down 2.1 percent in a slightly growing market.
However, Espinosa also explained that Nissan is no longer chasing big sales figures, but is instead focusing on profitability.
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“It’s a tough market all around,” Espinosa said. “One of the premises we put into our Nissan plan was to not rely too much on volume, to have a good business of the size we have.
“It’s not that we don’t want to grow, it’s not like we did in the past, we can’t rely on volume under the conditions the industry is in. “We are now faced not only with rising costs from regulations and the technology being added to cars, but also the arrival of many new players.
“For me, the goal is not to sell more cars, it’s to make more money. It’s really about how can we have a sustainable company of the size that we have, and of course, first of all, retain the customers that we have. Secondly, if we can grow, of course I will undertake the growth, but not at any cost. That’s one thing, the premise is, we have to have organic growth and a profitable company. The priority is to have a healthy business.”
The original Nissan Leaf was named World Car of the Year in 2011, and Espinosa said winning the Car of the Year award again 15 years later would give Nissan a welcome boost. “The message will be that Nissan is back, that Nissan is a capable company that is highly competitive and can deliver products with a clear purpose.
“The purpose of the Nissan Leaf is to be a no-compromise EV, to persuade customers who are considering an electric vehicle but are still hesitant for one reason or another to go and try the EV life. Nissan has the capacity to make history in the EV world, just as we did two generations ago.”
