Nissan Design Supports the Next Generation of Designers

Nissan is inviting 9 design students to Nissan Design Europe (NDE), its European design headquarters in London, on 23rd March as part of its global sponsorship activities. The students, from Pforzheim University in Germany, were challenged to create vehicle design concepts which meet customer expectations in 2015.

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

On 9th February, in the presence of Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer at Nissan Motor Company Limited, Tokyo and Satoru Tai, Vice President, Nissan Design Europe, London, the final presentation and critique took place at the University. Those students whose projects were most highly rated were invited to NDE to attend the official presentation and also to see a sample of life inside Nissan’s European design headquarters.

The brief presented to the students offered an added dimension as it asked them to consider what Nissan’s 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, while considering how they would impact the product. The two key guiding words behind the brief were “Bold” and “Thoughtful.”

The students will give a 10 minute presentation of their concepts to a group of pan-European press and Nissan’s design management at NDE.

“It is important to support and encourage the next generation of designers. 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 gain real-world experience by creating a design in demanding circumstances,” said Shiro Nakamura. “These types of 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.”

Located in London, Nissan Design Europe (NDE) opened on January 22, 2003. NDE is responsible for leading the development of the next generation of Nissan cars in

Europe and beyond. NDE is home to a large team of international designers, modellers and support staff and plays a strategically important role in Nissans creative network which comprises 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.