steviedeluxe

http://www.eleconomista.es/empresas-...ino-Unido.html

This seems most peculiar to me. Even in the good times, the north-east in England exported lots of engineers elsewhere (and they were in demand, being good workers). Yes, I'm sure given employment figures in Spain, there'll be engineers willing to apply for those jobs, but I can't believe Nissan couldn't get local workers. Unless all the locals really have given up and settled for life on benefits.

Fredbargate

Anyone got a Spanish - Geordie phrase book or dictionary ??

steviedeluxe

This may be a start

http://www.siliconhell.com/humour/windaz2000.htm

Mind you, the good folk of Sunderland (Mackems) may take exception to being called Geordies.

Fredbargate

That really depends on the origin of the word Mackem

http://www.thefullwiki.org/Mackem

Fredbargate

Thanks for this link Stevie, it will help the wife no end

Dick Dasterdly

The reason Nissan chose Sunderland in the first instance was because they believed Mackems already spoke Japanese.

e.g. Hoya hama owa.......(throw a hammer over).

Another reason was that they were able to cherry pick their work force from a huge list of capable applicants.
A few pals of mine applied and it was clear back then that they were setting the bar pretty high, especially with regard to workrate.
Little wonder then that for many years it has been considered to be the most efficient car plant in Europe.
I don't know what the current wages levels are, but most of the guys reckon they have to graft pretty darned hard for their pennies.

Things have changed such a lot in the last forty years or so, that I imagine there are nothing like the number of workers with engineering backgrounds as used to be the case.

Sunderland airshow this weekend,coincidentally.
Superb annual event taking place over the coastal area/resorts of Roker and Seaburn.

fionamw

I've been mulling over whether to 'add' to this thread with mention of being perplexed as to whether my Navara was built in Japan, UK, put together elsewhere but finished (I use the word loosely) in Barcelona, and/or whether seeking Spanish staff for the NE of the UK will make any difference to anything Nissan customers will receive at the end of the day.............

steviedeluxe

I've seen some claims elsewhere that Nissan are doing this as they believe the Spanish workers will work for less pay. But, considering Nissan also have a presence in Spain, it may be they are just hedging their bets, so they can quickly transfer production between the two countries at short notice.

Dick Dasterdly

Just looked at a couple of links,

"Nissan Sunderland sets new productivity standards for Europe, 20% higher than the closest rival."

"Nissan Barcelona needs to increase productivity standards to succeed"

In any event I would have thought for most customers the most important factor would be quality control/reliability.
That's certainly the case for me.
Japan used to be the leader in that field, but I would think in recent years S.Korea would just about top the list.
Not many of the Europeans are very clever on those counts, the Germans included.
I wonder if you've had problems with your Barca built Navara, Fiona, as I have heard of quite a few not very happy with them.
Most cars worldwide now use large numbers of common components.
As I said, for me the main consideration is quality control, but this can occasionally apply to the parts suppliers/manufacturers as well as the main production line.

fionamw

Don't know for a fact it was Barca built, but I do know whenever anything's been needed it's been from Barca!

fionamw

btw... wasn't part of the Toyota problem the expectation of quality from parts suppliers/manufacturers? Or did I get the wrong end of the stick?

Dick Dasterdly

I believe all European Navaras were built in Barca so named after the Navarre region.

As I said problems do sometimes originate with parts from the suppliers, however I would have expected the big car companies to have adequate testing facilities to ensure they're all up to spec before accepting and using them.
Unfortunately it doesn't always appear to be the case.

DLC

So if they're bothered about Barcelona's productivity, that's why they'll be sending their possibly best Spanish engineers off to the UK?

Looks like a long term plan to shut up shop in Barcelona.

steviedeluxe

Since they've announced this year the new Nissan 'pick up' is to be produced in Barcelona, that hardly seems likely. Besides which, if they were closing their Spanish plant, why seek out Spanish workers (they're looking for new recruits)?

http://www.catalannewsagency.com/new...uced-barcelona

I think the best answer is they are keeping their options open. At the moment the pound is weak against the Euro so it makes sense to keep production high at Sunderland. But by placing some Spanish engineers in there, they can quickly transfer production back over to Barcelona if the pound strengthens against the Euro.

DLC

Ryanair were going to not cut back their flights to Girona and Reus as well until the Generalitat realised they didn't have enough money to keep them there after the change of government...