The Man Who Designed Nissan's Quirkiest Cars is Retiring
As it funnels its suit-and-ties over to Mitsubishi and rearranges its own departments like mad, Nissan is losing veteran designer, stylish dresser, and chief creative officer: Shiro Nakamura. Responsible for some of Nissan’s more radical designs, Nakamura oversaw the styling for the revamped GT-R and current 370Z, along with intentionally quirky models like the Juke, Leaf, and Cube.
Nakamura said his designs were purposefully modern and intended to express the “shock of the new.” The objective was to amend the company’s western image as a discount brand and give its vehicles unique personalities and character, which — love or hate it — the Juke has in spades.
Alfonso Albaisa, Infiniti’s current design head, will be stepping in to take over for the retiring Nakamura as senior VP and Nissan’s styling overlord. Replacing Albaisa as Infiniti’s global design chief will be former BMW design boss Karim Habib.
“We are happy to have Karim join us and head our global Infiniti design teams. During his career as a designer and a leader of global teams he always created modern and inspiring designs,” Albaisa said in an announcement. “Karim is very skilled at capturing the heart and passion of a brand while at the same time giving each design its unique character. I look forward to Karim inspiring our teams to shape the next generation of Infiniti.”
Habib is known for taking a varied approach to car design. At BMW, he designed the straightforward X1 and the sinister CSL concepts. He’s also responsible for the production versions of the X3, X6, 7 Series and E60 5 Series. Prior to that, he developed both the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Smart ForTwo.
Nakamura’s commitment to automotive design will continue after his retirement through Nissan’s internal training program for aspirational stylists. Interested students are selected for multiple programs run by Nakamura and his Tokyo staff. The school has helped Nissan cherry-pick young designers and helped others find work for rival automakers.
“As long as we get the best of them, I’m fine with the others going to other companies,” Nakamura said in a 2014 interview with Automotive News. “In the end, I think the quality of Japanese design is getting better.”
Nakamura, affectionately called “Fingers” by coworkers, officially retires from Nissan on March 31st. Albaisa takes over in April and Habib joins the Infiniti team on July 1st.
[Image: Nissan]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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"Replacing Albaisa as Infiniti’s global design chief will be former BMW design boss Karim Habib." Break out the no-doze, it's going to be a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Mr Nakamura, shine on you crazy diamond.