Nissan creating more jobs on Wearside

Japanese car giants Nissan are investing £250m in Sunderland to make a small luxury car, creating "hundreds of jobs" in the UK.

"The Sunderland factory is very competitive," said Nissan's chief performance officer Colin Dodge. The Infiniti model was penned by Nissan's design team in London and engineered at its technical centre in Bedfordshire.

UK Business Secretary Vince Cable visited the Sunderland plant on Wednesday for the investment announcement.

Nissan had earlier announced in April that it will start manufacturing two models of the luxury brand Infiniti in China. Nissan aim to  increase its Infiniti sales in China. Last year it sold just under 20,000 units in the world's biggest car market. Nissan face some barriers to entry as China currently imposes import tariffs on luxury goods, which makes Infiniti cars more expensive for buyers.

1,500 jobs created by Toyota

Up to 1,500 jobs are to be created with production of a new Toyota car at the firm's Derbyshire factory.

Toyota said it would be investing more than £100m at Burnaston to make it the sole European centre for making the next hatchback.

The first 500 workers are to be recruited in the middle of next year.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who was visiting the factory, said it was "fantastic news and a massive vote of confidence for UK manufacturing".

Production of the hatchback will lead to as many as 1,500 additional jobs being created in the next two years, the company said.