Nissan said that the trial builds of the production version will begin in early 2010 before its introduction on the Micra/Note line. There it will take up manufacturing capacity created when production of the current Micra ends later that same year.
Trevor Mann, Nissan Senior Vice President for Manufacturing in Europe, commented: "The difficulties currently facing the car industry have been widely documented, and Nissan has not been immune. As a result we have had to make some difficult decisions, but the reason we have done so is to secure a long and positive future for the plant. Qazana points the way to that future and gives an indication of the unique and exciting car we will be producing in Sunderland next year."