to produce two models, with the introduction of the highly successful Micra, which was the first car of a Japanese brand to be voted "European Car of the Year". The Micra proved particularly popular with British and continental buyers, and was in production for a whole decade until the launch of the next generation Micra. The early 21st century was a period of growth for the plant, with the plant being awarded contracts to build the updated Almera from the end of 1999, becoming a three-model plant, and continuation of the Micra and Primera model changes. The Micra C+C was also produced there after the introduction of a new Micra hatchback at the end of 2002. Late 2005 saw the introduction of the Note model, and a year later came the demise of the Almera and the introduction of the Qashqai. At this point, NMUK had built a reputation for being the most efficient plant in Europe. By 2008, the falling sales of the Primera led to its demise (UK sales had finished two years earlier), with the Qashqai becoming the main model for the plant, with such high demand that a night shift was introduced to keep up. The Primera five-door model had the distinction of being the first model built at NMUK to be exported to the Japanese market. Nearly 5,000 workers were employed at the plant by this stage; however 1,200 of them were made redundant in January 2009 as a result of the recession which saw demand for new cars slump. Despite a temporary suspension of the third shift due to the automotive industry crisis of 2008, the third shift was reintroduced, and the strong demand for the Qashqai has helped NMUK remain strong throughout the crisis. After the crisis, Nissan announced that the new Juke model would be built starting in July 2010, replacing the Micra (now produced in Chennai, India) and that NMUK would be the European manufacturing location for the Electric Vehicle Leaf model beginning in 2011, as well as an on-site lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility for an investment of £420 million ($636 million USD), backed by the U.K. government. 2013 saw the introduction of the second-generation Note and Qashqai. Nissan's Sunderland plant in northeast England will play an important role in the firm's future, executives said in May 2020, despite plans to downsize elsewhere in Europe. In July 2021, Nissan announced plans