Production accolade for Nissan workers

Nissan's Sunderland plant is the most productive in Europe for the sixth year running.

The Japanese firm's UK workforce produced 95 cars per employee in 2001.

This made them the top performers in a study of more than 40 plants throughout the Continent.

The World Markets Research Centre only included in its calculations those employees considered to be essential in the manufacturing process.

Nissan averaged about 4,500 employees last year, with 3,122 staff on assembly lines making 296,000 cars.

When the Wearside plant was first recognised as Europe's most productive in 1996, the number of cars produced per employee was just 73.

The winning total last year represented a 6% productivity decrease on the previous figures, which Nissan bosses say was due to switching from the old Primera model to a new version.

Toyota's plant at Burnaston, Derbyshire, and Ford's Saarlouis plant in Germany followed in the table, with an average production output of around 87 cars per employee.

Nissan's UK managing director John Cushnaghan says he's delighted with the results, and adds: "Once again, I would like to pay tribute to all of our employees for their efforts and flexibility in producing yet another strong performance, and also to the strength of our relationships with our suppliers."

Nissan - the UK's biggest car manufacturer - expects to produce 300,000 cars this year, and will start manufacturing the new Micra model in November.