Production volumes and turnover have jumped at Nissan's Sunderland factory, but a reorganisation of the business has seen it take on more costs.
New accounts for Nissan Motor Manufacturing (º£½ÇÊÓƵ) Limited show 325,000 cars rolled off the production line at the Wearside plant in 2024, compared with 260,000 the year before.
Clearing disruption from worldwide semiconductor chip shortages over recent years was said to have helped the factory ramp up numbers with the Qashqai remaining the brand's biggest seller and one of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's top 10 models, of which 199,000 left for º£½ÇÊÓƵ and European showrooms.
Turnover was boosted from £5.03bn to £7.35bn in the year to the end of March 2024, as cost of sales crept up from £4.67bn to £6.92bn. But the plant swung to a loss during the year - recording an operating loss of £41.2m, from an operating profit of £49.4m a year earlier.
Bosses said the losses had partly been caused by provisions for supplier claims amounting to £214m - including costs associated with onsite supplier activity and where there had been unforeseen changes to production schedules, along with price inflation.
An internal shake-up of how Nissan is organised has also given the Sunderland plant a new status within the global group, making it liable for vehicle warranty costs where defects may have cropped up in the first three years or 100,000km of the vehicles it makes. The changes are said to have given the company more importance and prominence within the Japanese group.
Staffing levels also increased during the year - with headcount reaching nearly 7,000. That was said to have been driven by the increased production volumes and additional design staff needed for future electric vehicle projects.
The Sunderland plant is preparing to start making the third generation Leaf later this year, with new look Juke and Qashqai models revealed during last year. In recent weeks, Nissan issued images of a trio of models - including the third generation Leaf, as well as an all-electric Juke and the return of the Micra - which it hopes will do well in the European market.
Results for Nissan's Sunderland operation, which has been there since the mid 1980s, are set against a challenging time for the Japanese multinational, which has been facing falling sales, financial challenges and a botched merger attempt with rivals Honda. Those difficulties have prompted a major restructuring of the business including slashing production and plans to shut three plants, including one in Thailand and two, as yet, unidentified.
This week Nissan's new global chief executive Ivan Espinosa took over from Makoto Uchida. The Mexican, who was previously the manufacturer's chief planning officer, said he wants to speed up development of new models.
