https://www.motor1.com/news/772519/nissan-two-design-studios-closing/
“faster decision-making, deeper creative collaboration, and more agile responses to market shifts”
I’d only buy into the first one. There’s going to be same/more work distributed amongst less people so I don’t know how creative collaboration gets ‘deeper’. More agile responses? Yeah more like just ignore what people say and shoot from the hip.
(My quick take, based on personal and observed experiences)
edit: here’s some background on that ‘Studio Six’. Transportation Design alum Daniel Jimenez shapes what's next at Nissan - ArtCenter College of Design
For those not familiar with NDA, it is a huge facility just minutes away from the ocean in La Jolla dedicated to designing Nissan vehicles. It has a long history, it was just the second car design studio in Southern California, after Toyota’s. It had a reputation for being a very stable work environment, it even survived Carlos Ghosn’s cuts when he moved Nissan’s American headquarters from LA to Tennessee.
2 Likes
I don’t understand how you can have a design centre so far away from engineering
Yaw deadass fr?!
I’m no expert nor insider, but I believe the scheme is having country-specific design centers, or at least studios, which contribute concepts to the core group of engineers. For example I recall the GT-R had several proposals ‘competing’ to be the final car, same with recent versions of the Toyota Prius where the Japanese and American studios would be compared and then some prophet up top would decide.
NDA though, yeah. Heck I think I even applied to them way back in my early days. I’d associate them with many of my favorite cars of the past 40 years. Here’s a good article and interviews.
1 Like
The slow death of Datsun / Nissan is on of the greatest f*ck up stories in the car industry. Only bettered by running the italian car industry into the ground.
I heard this a few weeks back through friends. I’ve know a lot of designers who have worked there so it’s definitely sad, and not a great sign of things to come. As a side note, the building is truly iconic. I’ve spent some time there myself and it’s a little brutalist masterpiece that was custom built for the studio. Some photos from my visits:
3 Likes
Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan’s Senior VP for Global Design and likely the person most closely responsible for closing NDA, started his career there straight out of Pratt.
thanks for that. not quite as illustrious as I thought but definitely some noteworthy styles and popular vehicles. Surprised Infiniti wasn’t a bigger body of work for NDA.
I was surprised they didn’t do more Infiniti product as well!
J30 was the goat.
Can you imagine if there was a J30 coupe?!
1 Like
Where’s the 1991 M30 convertible??
J30 was way ahead of its time.