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Nissan Cancels Plan to Make X-Trail in U.K.

Nissan Motor Co., citing uncertainty about business after the U.K. leaves the European Union in March, says it won’t build its next-generation X-Trail SUV in England after all.
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Nissan Motor Co., citing uncertainty about business after the U.K. leaves the European Union in March, says it won’t build its next-generation X-Trail SUV in England after all.

Instead, the company plans to supply the new X-Trail exclusively from Japan, where the current-generation model is produced. Nissan adds that consolidating production also will free more funds for electrified powertrains and other advanced technologies.

Gianluca de Ficchy, who heads Nissan operations in Europe, notes that the continuing lack of clarity about U.K. trade arrangements after Brexit occurs in late March “is not helping” the company plan for the future. 

When the U.K. voted in 2016 to leave the EU, Nissan soon declared it would make the new X-Trail at its giant factory in Sunderland, England, after receiving assurances that the plant would not be burdened by higher tariffs after Brexit. The Financial Times says the government had promised about £80 million ($104 million) in aid.

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