Nissan is expected to commit to the building of two new electric models at its Sunderland factory later this week, safeguarding thousands of jobs.

The automotive giant is making a setpiece announcement at the plant on Friday, with reports saying that it will be outlining plans to build new electric models of its popular Juke and Qashqai ranges in the North East.

The Sunderland plant already produces electric vehicles and benefits from having its own battery supplier, AESC, right next to its factory. The Japanese firm is building a new plant at Sunderland to expand the number of batteries it can produce.

Read more:Nissan launches engineering academy in Sunderland

Go here for more Sunderland news

It is expected that Government support will be part of the package that has secured fresh investment from Nissan. Earlier this week, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch announced a £4.5bn fund for “strategic” manufacturing sectors, with more than £2bn of that for the automotive industry. And in yesterday’s Autumn Statement, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that announcement had been “warmly welcomed by Nissan”.

Nissan, which opened in Sunderland in 1986, two years ago announced its EV36Zero plan, which sees it working with Envision and Sunderland City Council to produce more electric vehicles at the Sunderland plant. In September it said that all of its new cars sold in Europe would be electric by 2030, despite moves by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to delay the switch to electric vehicles by five years.

At that time, Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s president and CEO said: “EV is the ultimate mobility solution. More than a million customers have already joined our journey and experienced the fun of a Nissan electric vehicle, and there is no turning back now.”