That prompted an urgent restructuring plan that involved cutting 20% of its global production and losing about 9,000 jobs - with CEO Makoto Uchida even volunteering to halve his salary. It remains unclear how those plans could impact the Wearside factory, which has been the centrepiece of the manufacturer's electric vehicle production plans involving billions of pounds of investment into renewable energy sources and battery production. Nissan's majority owned transmission supplier Jatco also recently announced it was setting up nearby to support the efforts. The breakdown in merger plans means Nissan is likely to seek another partner. There have been reports that Taiwanese technology company Foxconn is interested in acquiring a stake. A statement from the firms said: "Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Honda Motor Co., Ltd., today agreed to terminate the MOU signed on December 23 last year for consideration of a business integration between the two companies.