Nissan Motor Co. subsidiary drops UK EV powertrain project: Report

JATCO, a subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co., has scrapped its plans to manufacture electric vehicle (EV) powertrains in Sunderland, Britain reported Nikkei. The decision comes as the automaker grapples with sluggish demand for Nissan’s EVs in Europe.

JATCO had announced plans in January 2025 to invest £48.7 million in the project. The initiative aimed to produce 340,000 EV powertrain units annually at the Sunderland plant for Nissan. These integrated powertrains combine the motor, inverter, and reducer into a single system.

However, weakening sales in the United States and China have severely impacted Nissan’s business. In response, the company said it would reduce the number of its automobile production plants from 17 to 10 and conduct a comprehensive review of its powertrain manufacturing operations as part of a broader turnaround strategy.

More from Auto

The now-cancelled facility was expected to become a key part of Nissan’s efforts to strengthen its EV manufacturing footprint in Europe and support future electric vehicle production at its UK operations.

Nissan has also partnered with battery manufacturer AESC to support EV production in the UK.

A similar trend has been seen at Honda Motor Co., which recently announced that its plans to build a multi-billion-dollar EV plant in Canada have been indefinitely suspended. In recent years, Canada had hoped to establish itself as a global EV production powerhouse by signing major government-backed agreements with leading automakers such as Honda Motor Co. and Volkswagen.

However, slowing EV demand appears to have pushed automakers into a defensive position, forcing them to scale back production plans. At the time of its announcement, Honda’s Canadian EV project was valued at approximately C$15 billion (US$11 billion). Canada had promoted itself as an ideal destination for EV battery production, citing its vast reserves of critical minerals required for advanced battery technology, along with its skilled automotive workforce.

Honda pulled back from the initiative in March and also announced the cancellation of the launch and development of certain EV models in the United States, blaming “government policy shifts” under the administration of Donald Trump.

The deep integration of Canada’s automotive industry with the North American auto sector has also made it vulnerable to the broader slowdown affecting the US automobile market.