A TOP boss of an iconic car brand has slammed Britain as "not a competitive place" to build motors.
Alan Johnson blasted soaring costs and highlighted that his firm's Sunderland plant forks out more for electricity than any of their other ones.
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The Nissan official told MPs that the car giant's high UK costs trump those in factories as far as India, the Middle East and Africa.
Speaking to the Business and Trade Committee, thesenior vice president for manufacturing at Nissan warned that the UK car industry was on the back foot.
He said: "It is energy costs, it is the cost of everything involved in the cost of labour, training.
"It is the supplier base or lack of. All sorts of different issues."
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The top boss added: "Ultimately, the UK is not a competitive place to be building cars today."
It comes after Nissan was described to be "on the brink of collapse" due to tumbling sales in the US and China.
They are also struggling with mounting pressures to increase the number of electric vehicles they sell - with the threat of hefty fines should it fail.
It also comes after an ex-boss of the iconic car brand said it would be "mad" to close down its huge UK factory.
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The Japanese firmis now facing amake-or-break 12 monthsand could reportedly go under without drastic action.
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Nissan's Sunderland site - one of Britain’s biggest car factories - employs around 6,000 workers.
But back in February, the plant scrapped a late shift on one of its production lines.
Around 400 staff were affected, but no jobs were axed — with workers shifted to other lines in a bid to "maximise efficiency".
The Japanese manufacturer revealed last year it would cut 9,000 jobs globally, after profits plummeted by a whopping £1.59billion in just six months.
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The firm is looking to sure up its future by growing a partnership with its former rival after the reported collapse of a three-way alliance.
Nissan was one-third of a strategic deal with Mitsubishi andRenaultto share financial backing and expand all their markets in Europe, Japan and the US.
The agreement dates back to 1999 but now could be on the brink of collapse.
A report from theFinancial Timescites two anonymous "senior officials" at the firm suggesting that Renault is looking to reduce its financial stake in the Japanese carmaker.
The withdrawal of funding means, according to the same sources, thatNissancould require support from the Japanese or US governments within the next year just in order to stay afloat.
One of the officials said: "We have 12 or 14 months to survive.
"This is going to be tough.
"And in the end, we needJapanand the US to be generating cash."
Nissan has already cut 9,000 jobs across its global operation, while its CEO Makoto Uchida took a 50% pay cut in an economy drive.
The business is working through an emergency recovery plan, which will see it cut output by 20% and slash around £2bn in costs.
Its struggles have partly been blamed on the lack of a strong hybrid lineup, which has helped rivals like Toyota and Honda through the globalcollapse in EV sales.
In a press conference earlier this month, Mr Uchida said: "This has been a lesson learned and we have not been able to keep up with the times.
"We weren’t able to foresee thathybrid electric vehiclesand plug-in hybrids would be so popular."
Despite the grim outlook, Johnson praised moves to boost electric vehicle sales in the UK.
He also welcomed Labour’s move to ease up on strict Zero Emission Vehicle targets, which carmakers had warned could throttle production.
The Nissan boss also reassured MPs that Donald Trump’s tariffs only had a "small" impact on the plant.
He did however say that the company as a whole had been "impacted significantly" due to The Don's new rules.
Exports from the UK to the US now face a 10% tariff, with a hefty special rate of 25% slapped on cars, steel and aluminium.
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However, England's North East could avoid the worst consequences of the tariffs.
A North East Combined Authority meeting last week heard that just 6 per cent of the region’s car exports go to the States.
This compares to a third of them going worldwide - meaning the Sunderland plant is "less exposed" than other regions in the UK.
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It comes after brewing fears over the future of the Sunderland plant after discussions over a merger with Honda collapsed.
Plans were in the works for the two car giants to use each other's plants to build vehicles and create manufacturing capabilities that would rival Tesla.
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