NISSAN has announced the replacement for the Almera will be built at its plant in Sunderland, creating 800 jobs at the plant and thousands more in the supply industry. The new model will be introduced in the year 2000, meaning all three of Nissan's volume European models - the Micra, Almera and Primera - will be built in the UK.

Nissan predicts the £215 million investment will generate £350 million of additional spending on components leading to the creation of 4,000 new jobs in the supply industry - 2,700 of them in the UK. As well as being built in the UK, like the Micra and Primera, the Almera replacement will be designed at Nissan's European Technology Centre in Cranfield.

Meanwhile, Vauxhall has denied speculation that the next generation Corsa will be built in the UK. Vauxhall said while it would welcome a switch in production from Spain to the UK - safeguarding 10,000 jobs - no decision had yet been taken by the parent company.