Car maker Nissan is to begin production in its Sunderland plant in 2015 of a new Infiniti model compact car, bringing 1,000 additional UK jobs as part of a £250m investment.

The jobs include 280 at the Sunderland plant itself, with the rest coming across the country.

This follows announcements of 225 new jobs at the firm in April, while other car makers including Jaguar Land Rover and Vauxhall have also signalled their intention to make major investments in the UK in the past year.

During 2012, employment with Nissan in Sunderland passed 6,000 for the first time and annual global exports from the plant now exceed 5m units.

Confederation of British Industry director-general John Cridland says: “This news is the cherry on the cake for the UK’s automotive industry in 2012, following a year of many success stories across the country.

“This major investment once again demonstrates the competitiveness of UK manufacturing. So we must build on the momentum the industry has gained this year by developing an industrial strategy that will deliver for all of our high-performing sectors in 2013.”

• See recruiter.co.uk’s March story ‘Jaguar Land Rover to create a thousand jobs, or should that be 8,000?’ for more on the implications of job creation at car makers across the automotive supply chain.