Nissan workers raise the roof as new Micra rolls off the line

The decision to build the convertible Micra C+C in Sunderland has created 70 jobs and safeguarded another 250.

Nissan hopes to sell 20,000 of the coupes a year. It has a folding glass roof that can be raised or lowered into the boot at the touch of a button.

The car maker has set up a "factory within a factory" at the plant's final assembly shop, with specialist German supplier Karmann GmbH setting up its own production operation, employing 50 people to make the folding glass roof modules.

The C+C was designed at Nissan Design Europe, developed at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe in Bedfordshire, and is now built by Nissan Motor Manufacturing in Sunderland.

Colin Dodge, managing director of the Sunderland plant, said: "The C+C started life as a design exercise for the 2002 Paris Motor Show. That concept car received such a favourable reaction from the public and motoring Press that the decision was taken to make it a production reality.

"Nissan has never built a convertible car in Europe before and I'm delighted that our plant has been given the responsibility, and the challenge, of producing the C+C.

"Although the production volume will be relatively small compared to the other models we manufacture here, the C+C is a very important car for Nissan because of the boost it will give to the brand right across Europe."