Nissan U.K. Plant BEV Boost From New Jatco Powertrain FacilityNissan U.K. Plant BEV Boost From New Jatco Powertrain Facility

Japanese automatic transmission manufacturer Jatco begins readying its new U.K. factory providing electrified powertrains to the neighboring Nissan plant.

The facility, at the International Advanced Manufacturing Park, Sunderland, in the North East of England, creates 183 jobs and will produce the 3-in-1 modular units that integrate motor, inverter and reducer into a smaller, lighter package.

This 138,840 sq.-ft. (12,900 sq.-m) plant represents a £48.7 million ($60 million) investment by the company which has supplied over 129 million automatic transmissions to the global automotive market since it was established in 1970.

Jatco has held the top share in CVTs globally every 15 year since 2008 and hopes to reach a production capacity of 340,000 units from its Sunderland plant primarily for Nissan Motor Manufacturing (U.K.). It is scheduled to begin production from 2026.

Nissan's electrified production strategy, dubbed EV36Zero, plans three new battery-electric vehicle models powered by renewable energy. This includes the future replacement for the Nissan Leaf plus BEV versions of Nissan's flagship Qashqai and Juke compact CUVs.

Alan Johnson, senior vice president, manufacturing, supply chain and purchasing for Nissan, says: “Welcoming a key supplier to the North East of England provides a big boost to the efficiency of our supply chain. We look forward to continuing our long and successful partnership as we push towards our electric future.”