Automotive parts manufacturer Calsonic Kansei (Saitama-city, Saitama / Japan; www.calsonickansei.co.jp) is cutting 175 jobs at two of its factories in the UK. Around 82 staff at Washington Tyne & Wear and 93 at Sunderland will lose their jobs. The employees affected are both direct and head office support staff. The company said it was making the redundancies to protect the long-term viability of its manufacturing operations.

Some 90% of the output at Calsonic Kansei is supplied to the Nissan plant at Sunderland, where 1,200 workers are being made redundant. It also supplies the Honda factory in Swindon, which has shuttered production for four months.