Nissan has launched its first apprenticeship scheme in Europe to create technicians with the right skill sets for an electric transportation future.
Its only European vehicle production plant, at Sunderland in the northeastern U.K., has taken on its first cohort of students in the new Nissan Skills Academy after they successfully completed a two-year program bridging the gap between classroom and shop floor.
The group of 12 studied in the entry level engineering program at Sunderland College’s City Campus, with technical-manufacturing skills tuition paid by the college and Nissan teaching teams.
The students, from St. Wilfrid’s R.C. College, all attained the qualification, with five beginning apprenticeships at Nissan. The rest will either continue their studies at St. Wilfrid’s final high school year or progress to Sunderland College’s T Level two-year technical courses in engineering.
Two more groups of students, between 14 and 16 years old, are also on track to enter the Academy in the coming years.
The program is part of the automaker’s EV36Zero blueprint aimed at transforming the production plant into a flagship battery-electric vehicle hub, bringing together vehicles, renewable energy and battery production, says Claire Jones, head of skills at Nissan Sunderland.
The Academy is also an extension of the global Nissan Skills Foundation set up 10 years ago, designed to spark interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and automotive innovation among children between the ages of 9 and 16 in an economically challenged part of the U.K.
“They are joining at an important and exciting time for our plant, and some will have the opportunity to work on the next-generation Nissan Leaf, which launches later this year,” Jones says in a company release.
