Barcelona 'misses opportunity' to produce new Nissan Pick up Van

Barcelona (ACN).- Nissan has rejected the candidacy of its factory in Barcelona to manufacture the new Pick up Van. The Japanese company has decided that the new car will be produced at plants in Thailand, Mexico and South Africa, but not in Catalonia. The car giant will now focus on finding an alternative factory in Europe to produce the car more 'competitively' than in Barcelona. The plant in the Catalan capital was the only one that did not win a contract to produce the van.

The deputy CEO of Nissan in Spain, Frank Torres, blamed the unions for Catalonia's lost chance at producing the Pick Up Vans. Torres told the CNA that Nissan's Board rejected Barcelona's candidacy because the unions did not accept the new labour conditions proposed by the company. The proposal included: a freezing of salaries until 2014; the elimination of seniority bonuses; an increase of work hours to raise productivity; and the preference of temporary contracts over permanent positions. The unions found these conditions 'unacceptable'.

The production of the new Pick Up Van would have been of huge benefit to the Nissan factory in Barcelona, as it implies the manufacturing of 60.000 cars annually. Torres said that Nissan would have invested up to 80 million euros in Barcelona, but added that the city has 'definitely' lost its chance. According to the deputy CEO, Nissan in Barcelona now sees an 'uncertain future', with the probability that the company will struggle in the coming years.

'Now we should wait for a new opportunity that won't be as good as that one and that will be more challenging', Frank Torres said. The deputy CEO argued that the factory will continue to have difficulties in obtaining new contracts to manufacture other cars in the future unless it changes its conditions of labour.

The Nissan's deputy CEO believes that management at the Barcelona factory did 'its best' to try to agree a new labour settlement with the unions. 'Barcelona lost because it lacks competitivity', Torres argued, adding that the union's rejection of the new labour plans meant that Barcelona's candidacy didn't meet the 'minimum standards' of competitiveness held by the Japanese. According to Torres, Nissan gave a 'last chance' to the unions to agree on the changes two weeks ago, yet they still remained resistant even though 'they knew this meant losing the candidacy'.

The union MCA-UGT said that Nissan should 'reconsider its strategy'. In a formal statement, the union rejected the idea that the workers are to blame for the failure in getting the contract and also showed their 'commitment' with the candidacy of Barcelona to produce the van. They believe that Nissan is trying to 'impose' new labour conditions on its factory in Catalonia that are 'far below the parameters of previous years' and urged the managers to renegotiate. 'The lack of agreement is severely damaging the interests of the Barcelona plant', the statement reads. Workers consider that Barcelona still has a chance to produce the new Pick Up Van because Nissan has not yet decided on a location for manufacturing it in Europe.