Nissan denies it chose Japan production for Ariya EV over UK amid Brexit worries

Nissan denied a report that it has opted to build its Ariya full-electric SUV in Japan for European markets rather than produce it in the UK where its Sunderland plant is under threat from a hard Brexit.

Nissan initially considered making the Ariya for Europe in Sunderland, Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday. But Brexit worries and Japan's trade deal with with Britain that takes effect next month and abolishes auto tariffs in a similar manner as the Japan-EU trade deal led Nissan to decide in favor of exporting the Ariya from Japan, Nikkei said.

A Nissan Europe spokesman said Ariya production has been planned at the automaker's factory in Japan's Tochigi prefecture north of Tokyo "for several years." Japan production was confirmed in July when the Ariya was unveiled, the spokesman told Automotive News Europe.

Nissan will build the Ariya in China for Chinese market, as well as at its Tochigi plant for the Japan, the U.S. and Europe, Automotive News Europe reported in July.

The Ariya will go on sale in Japan in mid-2021 and will arrive in North America, Europe and China by the end of next year. It will be longer, wider and taller than the Leaf small EV, with more power and a longer 610 km (379-mile) range.

Nissan has stuck with stark warnings about the fate of its Sunderland plant as the deadline for a trade deal between the UK and EU deal approaches. Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta has said that Brexit-induced tariffs could render the company's UK business and Sunderland plant unsustainable.

The plant has at times manufactured more than 500,000 vehicles a year, though output dropped below 350,000 units last year and will be much lower in 2020. About 80 percent of the Qashqai and Juke crossovers and full-electric Leaf hatchbacks manufactured there are exported, mostly to the EU.

Nissan has earmarked 400 million pounds ($543 million) for production of the new Qashqai in Sunderland and has invested most of that already, it said last month.

Unless negotiators are able to reach an agreement on new terms of trade before the Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31, vehicles and components will be subject to tariffs that Nissan, BMW and PSA Group have said would be catastrophic for their factories.

As Nissan swiftly launches new vehicles -- 12 fresh models are scheduled in the 18 months through November 2021 -- a no-deal Brexit could mean that a greater number of Europe-bound cars are produced outside the UK.

Automotive News Europe UK Correspondent Nick Gibbs and Bloomberg contributed to this report