Nissan has played down reports that it is due to make an announcement soon that the new Almera will be built at Sunderland, alongside the Micra. A company spokesman accused the national press of “running away with the facts”.

“We already build the Almera at Sunderland and when it's replaced in two or three years time it will still be built at Sunderland,” he said. The Nissan spokesman also said that further reports in the Independent that a new production line was to be opened at the plant to build the mini-people carrier version of the Almera was “speculation”.

The European Union recently gave the go-ahead to a £40m aid package from the UK Government for Nissan's Sunderland plant, safeguarding 1,200 jobs.