A FURTHER 200 to 300 jobs will be created at Nissan's Sunderland plant in December when its Qashqai model hits the production line.

The jobs boost will come as Nissan nears the end of production of its Almera car on the site.

Despite its North-East plant being the most productive in Europe, Nissan told The Northern Echo yesterday that there would not be the capacity on site to build the Almera's replacement - the Versa.

A Nissan spokesman said the Versa would be built in Mexico, while the Sunderland plant would be kept busy with the Note and Qashqai.

He said that while the Versa was primarily intended for the US market, speculation that it could come to Europe was correct.

"I don't know yet if the Versa will be given the green light for the European market, but it won't be built here in Sunderland anyway because of a capacity issue," he said.

"Sunderland will be busy with other models, particularly with the Note being launched and the future Qashqai."

The production of the Note began on Monday, creating 200 jobs and safeguarding about 800 more.

The group will announce its financial results in April.

Last year, Nissan posted record results after selling 3,388,000 vehicles throughout the year, which helped push its assets back into the black for the first time in six years.