Industry Minister Jacqui Smith has announced £3.26 million in grant aid for production of the new Micra coupe-cabriolet at Nissan's Sunderland plant.

Over 250 jobs will be secured by the grant, which forms part of a £95 million investment by Nissan in the new model.

The car will go on sale in Europe in 2005 and it will be the first coupe-cabriolet to be built in Europe by Nissan who expect to produce 20,000 cars annually. The car was conceived at Nissan's Design Centre in London, its Technical Centre at Cranfield and the plant at Sunderland. Karmann is to be responsible for manufacture of the car's retractable hard top assembly, and will set up a facility within the plant to deliver fully-assembled roof modules to the line.

The new car will be a redesigned version of the Micra C+C concept first shown at the Paris Motorshow in 2002. Like the show car, it will have a 2+2 seating arrangement. The C+C will go on sale in 2005.