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Nissan has said it will invest £400million in Sunderland as it pushes ahead with plans to build its new Qashqai sports utility vehicle at its British factory.

The Japanese carmaker said the new Qashqai would be built in the North East site back in 2016 - after Government reassurances that Brexit would not hit competitiveness.

And despite warnings over Brexit , it's still pushing ahead - announcing a £52million investment in a new press line at the site on Friday.

The new extra-large press line is part of a £400million investment for the vehicle on top of the £100million spent for the new Juke, which entered production last year and has reached an output of 35,000.

"Our team in the UK continues to set the standard for productivity and quality," said chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta.

(Image: Reuters)

Production for the new car is set to begin around the start of 2021.

Nissan currently builds the LEAF, Qashqai and Juke models in Britain, where it directly employs more than 7,000 people, but it axed premium Infiniti vehicles last year, cutting output, and has been hit by a slump in diesel demand.

The Sunderland site is Britain's biggest car plant and built nearly 350,000 vehicles in 2019, down almost a third since a recent high of over 500,000 cars in 2016.

Globally, Nissan is grappling with the need to accelerate cost-cutting and rebuild profits, repair its partnership with France's Renault and handle the fallout from former boss Carlos Ghosn's arrest.