Nissan has no plans to leave Britain and follow its Asian rivals to eastern Europe to benefit from cheaper labour costs and bigger markets, a senior executive said.

Asian carmakers Kia, Toyota and Hyundai have flocked to countries like the Czech Republic and Slovakia, posing a growing threat to western Europe's more established brands.

But Colin Dodge, senior vice-president of Nissan Motor Manufacturing, told Reuters in an interview he was confident the company's European headquarters in Sunderland, northeast England, could stay competitive.

The plant, one of the region's biggest employers, makes 4.1 million cars annually, a fifth of total UK car production. "At the moment we've got no plans to do so (move to eastern Europe). We're obviously alert to that possibility... It's very easy to close an existing plant and open a new one and get some short-term gains. But we've existed (in Sunderland) for 20 years," he said at the Nissan production base.

"We're also trying to further utilise our existing investment," he added.

He said eastern Europe now handles 10 per cent of auto output that until a few years ago was produced in the west.

South Korea's Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai and the fastest-growing car brand in Europe in 2005, plans to open a plant in Slovakia with the aim of producing 300,000 mid-sized cars a year by 2009.

Hyundai is also close to a deal to set up a one billion-euro car plant in the Czech Republic, while Toyota has formed a joint venture with Peugeot east of Prague.

But despite the push eastward, Sunderland has for several years remained one of Europe's most efficient car plants, thanks largely to a competitive UK supply base, Mr Dodge said.

However, if the eastward trend continues, it could prove harder to find cheaper suppliers in Britain, he added. Mr Dodge said Nissan's suppliers had already started sourcing cheaper components from Asia.

Mr Dodge predicted more tough times ahead but said Nissan would steer clear of excessive discounting to boost sales, preferring to focus on profits. "Europe's got the toughest market. It feels like that. There's a lot of players, there's a lot of good product," he said.

Factors such as its port location weighed in the Sunderland plant's favour, Mr Dodge said. Exports accounted for 80 per cent of the business in 2005.