Nissan Sunderland's £10m battery assembly line begins manufacturing

Nissan said more training dedicated to manufacturing electrified vehicles is planned in the coming months and years

Electric versions of the Qashqai and Juke are being manufactured at Nissan in Sunderland thanks to a £10m state-of-the-art battery assembly line.

Battery packs for the plant's two most successful models are now made onsite and fitted into the crossover vehicles.

Built alongside the Nissan Leaf, it means every model built in the UK now has an electrified version.

Vice president of manufacturing Alan Johnson said it was "fantastic" to see them rolling off the production lines.

The two electrified models are part of a previously announced £500m investment by Nissan into the plant to build the current generations of Qashqai and Juke.

Battery packs are assembled onsite before fitted into the vehicles

Mr Johnson added: "Both e-POWER and hybrid technologies are firsts for the team in Sunderland.

"Our plant is built on the foundations of 36 years of manufacturing excellence from our world-class people and advanced facilities.

"Two million hours of training just for electrification shows we are taking that to the next level, as we lead the charge towards an electrified future."

Last Year Nissan announced a major expansion of electric vehicle production at the plant in Sunderland as part of a £1bn investment.