Nissan to build new Infiniti model in Britain from 2015

Dec 18 (Reuters) - Japanese carmaker Nissan will invest around 250 million pounds ($405 million) to build a new version of its Infiniti luxury brand in Sunderland, northeast England, from 2015, creating 1,000 jobs.

Sunderland, which will be able to build 60,000 of the new "Etherea" model per year, is Britain's largest car plant and one of the most productive in Europe.

Infiniti brand cars are currently made almost exclusively in Japan, Nissan said on Wednesday.

Britain's largely foreign-owned car industry has been resilient compared with the rest of Europe where the car market has slumped to 20-year lows in the face of the euro zone crisis.

It has also been a relative bright spot in domestic manufacturing, attracting investment from abroad while other areas have seen a decline.

Nissan had said on Tuesday it expected the global premium car market to grow 8 percent next year as strong U.S. demand offsets flat western European sales.