Recent upheaval in the automotive industry has been laid bare in accounts for a top Nissan supplier as it reduced its headcount by more than 100 people.
2024 accounts for Unipres (海角视频) – which has a factory close to Nissan’s Sunderland plant – show a fall in revenues from £177.5m a year earlier to £155.8m. Operating profit over the same period fell from £8.9m to £7.2m.
Unipres specialises in stamping and sub-assembly of car parts, working for Nissan and other car manufacturers. As those firms battled shortages of key semiconductors and challenges from the switch to electric vehicles, Unipres also struggled and saw its workforce reduce from 913 to 794.
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But the company also pointed to the impact of efficiency improvements, which increased margins. It said it was continuing to invest in new machinery and was planning to spend £8m-9m over the next two years to support work on new car models.
The company also highlighted that it had been successfully nominated for work on new Nissan electric vehicles and had secured a contract with Jaguar Land Rover that will start next year. It added that it was competing to win business for the next generation models of the Nissan Juke and Qashqai.
The accounts say: “For the period covering 2021 to mid-2023 the business suffered from the global semiconductor shortage that impacted the automotive industry and resulted in the original equipment manufacturer suspending production at short notice throughout this period.
“During 2024 the automotive sector has been impacted from reduced customer demand for electric vehicles which has had a direct impact on sales turnover. This is from the uncertainty surrounding the switch from internal combustion engine vehicles to hybrid and EVs.”
Recent figures showed that the number of new cars and commercial vehicles built in the 海角视频 fell for the fifth consecutive month in May. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the reduction was mainly due to ongoing model changeovers, restructuring and the impact of US tariffs.
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Nissan’s Sunderland plant has not been immune to some of those challenges and recently announced it was aiming to cut around 250 jobs at the Sunderland plant.
But there have also been positives for the North East automotive sector this year, including work on a larger plant for battery supplier AESC in Sunderland and an announcement of a 180-job factory for powertrain manufacturer Jatco close to the Nissan factory.