THE beleagured business community has again raised its concerns regarding Britain's competitiveness in the world market.

Nissan president, Carlos Ghosn has added his considerable weight behind the call for the introduction of measures to reduce the strength of sterling.

Mr Ghosn threw his hat into the debate over the problems facing British business, warning of the threat to future investment at the Sunderland plant.

But as Nissan's UK managing director, John Cushnaghan, admitted what he was saying was nothing new.

"When the group chief says that the strength of sterling is causing a problem, more people are inclined to listen," he said.

"Carlos is repeating exactly what the company has been saying for years."

And Mr Cushnaghan is no stranger himself to the call in this country for a currency union with our European counterparts.

Only last week he told a Commons Treasury Select Committee that the prospects of the Japanese giant's Micra replacement being built in the North-East were being undermined by the strength of sterling.

The countdown to the decision on where the next generation Micra will be built is well underway, with the deadline being the end of the year.

Mr Cushnaghan believes uncertainty over the exchange rate is making it harder to argue the case to locate production in Britain.

"The European plants have an advantage in the current economic climate, and we believe the euro sterling relationship is hindering our case," he said.

"But what we do have the most productive car plant in Europe, and the people here deserve this project. We will be doing everything we can to make sure they get it."

The Micra currently accounts for a third of the 330,000 cars built each year at Sunderland, where 5,000 are employed.

More than 20,000 jobs in supplier and other related firms also depend on the health of the plant.

His comments come at a time when Nissan is considering whether to build the new Micra on Wearside, at their Barcelona plant, or at factories operated by its new partner, Renault. Mr Cushnaghan said Sunderland would have to cuts costs by 25 per cent to make it a competitive site for the Micra, even without the "handicap" of the exchange rate.

The views of Nissan's Brazilian president and its UK MD were backed by president of the North-East Chamber of Commerce, Nigel Sherlock.

He said: "The strength of sterling, which the Chamber believes has been allowed to rise too high for too long must not be allowed to inflict another massive economic blow to the region as the closure of Siemens and Fujitsu did in the late 90s.

"We have campaigned for many months to make the point that using only interest rates to control an overheating of the economy in the South East is doing long-term damage to manufacturing industry elsewhere.

"Surely the Government will take heed of the messages coming from leading companies like Nissan, Vauxhall, BMW, Toyota and Honda."

The Chamber believes that measures including personal taxation, an increase in stamp duty on higher priced properties, and a targeted level of interest rates would go a long way toward addressing the problems in the country's manufacturing industry