NISSAN has turned to the North-East to create its new flagship vehicle, safeguarding 5,000 jobs and creating up to 1,000 more in the region.

As revealed in The Northern Echo yesterday, the motoring company announced the latest model will be manufactured at the group's Sunderland plant, bringing with it £223m of investment.

Colin Dodge, the managing director of Nissan Motor manufacturing UK (NMUK), said: "Today's announcement is a tremendous vote of confidence. The model was born out of the Qashqai concept car, which was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, in Switzerland, last March.

Although the Qashqai name -taken from a tribe of nomads in the Fars region of southern Iran -will almost certainly change, it will be used until the final name is chosen.

Designed to appeal to younger drivers, it is part people-carrier, part hatchback, blending a sports coupe design with 4x4 capabilities.

About 130,000 models a year will be made in Sunderland, bringing the plant's annual production up to roughly 4,00,000 cars and consolidating its position as Britain's biggest car producer.

The news brought ringing endorsements from the region's business community.

North-East Chamber of Commerce chief executive George Cowcher said: "The Sunderland plant keeps winning contracts on the back of a skilled workforce operating under good management.

"Nissan proves we can take on the world and win."

Manufacturing the Qashqai will create 200 jobs on the assembly line and secures employment for 1,000 workers.

It will also provide jobs across the region for about 800 people involved in the supply chain, and secure thousands more.

NMUK employs about 4,100 workers, who are capable of producing up to 500,000 units a year based on a three-shift system.

Winning the Qashqai production deal means Sunderland, which is Europe's most efficient car plant, will manufacture six models simultaneously.

Mr Dodge, who is also senior vice-president for manufacturing at Nissan Europe, said: "It will be a challenge to integrate this all-new model into our product mix, along with our upcoming model changes.

"But this is the sort of challenge any car plant would welcome, and I know the workforce will be looking forward to next year and the start of production."

The Qashqai is the first model to be created wholly in the UK. It will be the third new model to roll off the Sunderland assembly lines in an intense 16-month period that starts in September when the Micra C+C goes into production.

This will be followed next January by the Tone, Nissan's small family hatchback.

Work on the Qashqai is scheduled to start in December next year, and it will go on sale at the beginning of 2007.

NMUK was bolstered in its bid by the promise of a £5m Regional Selective Assistance grant from the Government.

One NorthEast worked closely with the Government to ensure Sunderland secured the Qashqai.

The £5m grant brings the total amount of taxpayer's money invested in the plant to £178m over 18 years. Nissan has invested £2.2bn in Sunderland since work on the plant started in 1984.

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