Nissan Inaugurates Updated Global Design Studio

Earlier this week, Nissan cut the ribbon on its redesigned Global Design Studio. The 45,200 sq-ft facility is located at Nissans Technical Design Center, and is the last of its design centers to be updated or constructed, a process that began in 2001. Currently, Nissan has five other facilities that contribute to its global products, including another one in Japan, two in the United States (San Diego and Detroit), one in Taiwan, and one in the UK, which develops vehicles for Europe. These design facilities allow Nissan to create vehicles that are suited to local markets, but this one in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, serves as the brain in the network, a sort of leader to the brands global efforts.

Nissans CCO (Chief Creative Officer) Shiro Nakamura says, "This latest investment in the future of our design capabilities is proof that Nissan intends to stay a leader in the area of automotive design. Our new global design center represents a shift in how we are working cross-globally with the other studios and cross-functionally with engineering to deliver more innovative products faster to market."

Unlike some of Nissans other design studios, where tasks such as modeling, engineering, drafting and designing occur in single, unified areas, the Global Design Studio is set up in zones that are dedicated to specific products. This allows all members of a certain project to work with each other directly and more effectively, or as Nissan calls it, "Collaborate and Communicate".

In addition, Nissan has also set up whats known in the industry as an "information gallery", where staff can become familiar with the latest global trends. After all, when your job is to create production and concept cars, which involves predicting as well as setting future trends, its always good to be ahead of the curve by knowing whats going on across continents and cultures.

In conjunction with the design studio announcement, Nissan also displayed the logo of the upcoming GT-R. Unless you have a very keen eye, the logo will appear exactly the same as the previous-generation GT-R logo. If you need a little help spotting the differences, the red-colored R is shorter in height and flatter looking. Its also three-dimensional, whereas the old logo had a recessed surface. Ghosn told the media that the car would be built at the companys Tochigi assembly facility, but its high-performance engine would be produced in Yokohama. Nissan has been effectively building up the hype surrounding its highest performance vehicle. The car will make its production debut at Tokyo next year, most likely the shows most significant introduction.