A car parts plant that puts the North-East ahead of the rest of Europe opens next week.

The £4m Magna Kansei assembly site opens on the Pattinson North industrial estate in Washington on Monday, bringing 80 jobs to the region.

The first factory of its kind in the UK, it will work on a deadline of 53 minutes to supply the nearby Nissan plant with complete dashboard panels for the new Micra, which is due to be launched next year.

Magna Kansei finance manager Gordon Allan said: "We have studied our parent companies' Kansei site in Japan and Magna sites in Europe and North America, and have put together the best from both."

The deal sees Nissan move away from sourcing parts from different suppliers and then building the dashboard, to contracting out to one manufacturer for the complete article.

Mr Allen said: "We only have 53 minutes' notice from Nissan before we deliver the parts.

"We have to deliver at the right time to fit in with the exact sequence of how Nissan build the cars on their line."

Magna Kansei is one of the region's leading manufacturers in the automotive supply industry.

The company already employs about 500 staff at its Sunderland site, which was set up ten years ago.

The opening of the new plant sees Magna Kansei come full circle.

"We started out in 1992 with just 80 workers, working on a small order of injection moulding for the original Nissan Micra," said Mr Allan.

"Now we can celebrate the start of our second decade with this move into a higher level of production."

The company's main site provides plastic components for customers such as Nissan, BMW, Land Rover, Jaguar and General Motors.

Total turnover for the Washington and Sunderland plants is expected to reach £130m by the end of next year.

Winning the Micra dashboard contract has had knock-on benefits for other North-East firms.

Teesside plastics manufacturer Nifco will make parts such as cup holders for the dashboard, and Newcastle systems specialist Croft Computers has helped set up a wireless computer link between Magna Kansei and Nissan.

Alan Johnson, Minister for Employment Relations, Industry and the Regions, and Nissan UK managing director John Cushnaghan will together unveil the plant at a ceremony on Monday.