Nissan Next Generation of Designers

Nine design students from Pforzheim University in Germany, who produced winning entries in a design challenge set by Nissan as part of its global sponsorship activities, yesterday attended the company's European design headquarters to present their concepts.

The students are all participants in the University's Transportation Design course and had been challenged by London-based Nissan Design Europe (NDE) to create vehicle concepts that would meet customer expectations in 2015.

As part of the four-month project, 5th semester students were asked to develop scale exterior clay model proposals, while those from the 7th semester were asked to develop interior design proposals.

The brief asked the students to consider what the Nissan brand should express in the future and what should be its position in a context of global competition. They were challenged to define future lifestyles and needs and how they would impact on the product. The two key guiding words behind the brief were "Bold" and "Thoughtful".

In early February, a team including Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer at Nissan Motor Company Limited, Tokyo and Satoru Tai, Vice President, Nissan Design Europe, London, assessed each of the student?s entries and those behind the most highly rated projects were invited to attend the official presentation and sample life inside Nissan?s European design headquarters.

"It is important to support and encourage the next generation of designers," explained Shiro Nakamura. "I am very pleased that Nissan Design has organised this excellent programme to give students a real taste of the type of brief that we give to designers in Nissan. They will have gained real-world experience by creating a design in demanding circumstances.

"Such programmes serve to motivate and challenge tomorrow?'s car designers and the key to success for the students in this project is understanding customer needs, trends and tastes 10 years from now."

Nissan Design Europe opened its headquarters in Paddington, London on 22 January, 2003. The facility is responsible for leading the development of the next generation of Nissan cars in Europe and beyond and is home to a large team of international designers, modellers and support staff. It plays a strategically important role in Nissan's creative network comprising six design studios worldwide.

In Europe, Nissan employs approximately 12,000 people in its design, research and development, manufacturing, logistics, and sales and marketing operations. Last year, the company produced a total of 508,901 vehicles in its British and Spanish plants and sold 540,954 vehicles in Europe. Nissan Europe's headquarters is based in Trappes (Paris), France.

(Text & Photos courtesy Nissan Motor Corporation)