NISSAN ANNOUNCES SENIOR MANAGEMENT CHANGES AT NISSAN DESIGN AMERICAS and NISSAN DESIGN EUROPE

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (March 11, 2010) – Nissan today announced changes in leadership at Nissan Design America and Nissan Design Europe. Alfonso Albaisa, currently vice president, Design, Nissan Design Europe, will return to NDA as vice president.

Albaisa succeeds Bruce Campbell, vice president, Design, NDA, and Victor Nacif, vice president, Design Business Aspect, NDA.

Campbell, a 30-year veteran with Nissan, will retire from NDA and become an advisor to Nissan’s Global Design Division. Nacif will become vice president, Nissan Design Europe, succeeding Albaisa.

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Volvo’s Head of Design Steve Mattin Resigns

Volvo’s award-winning design director, Steve Mattin, has left the company. U.K.-born Mattin has been Volvo’s design director since May of 2005 and was instrumental in creating designs like the C30, XC60, and most recently, the S60 Concept from Detroit. Mattin joined the Swedish automaker after coming over from (then) DaimlerChrysler, where he was employed for 17 years. Mattin left DCX as the company’s senior design manager after having a hand in vehicles as wide-ranging as the SL, SLK, SLR, R-Class, M-Class, and the Maybach line.

The departure could signal a wave of changes at Volvo as Ford ramps up the intensity of its push to sell the brand. Despite serious talks with a number of potential buyers, however, Ford has released nothing indicating a sale is imminent. News of Mattin’s exit from Volvo comes from Sweden’s GP, which quotes Mattin, shortly after being hired on at Volvo in May 2005, as saying he would “stay [at Volvo] for the rest of my life.” That sort of talk doesn’t lend itself to an easy change in career path, especially immediately after an 18-year stint at Mercedes-Benz.

But perhaps the change-up is just another in the cycle of designer exits that has swept the industry in the past several months. Chris Bangle, BMW’s famous, or to some eyes, infamous, designer for most of the last decade, left the industry altogether. Karim Habib, also from BMW, defected to Mercedes-Benz just a few weeks ago.

Even among the purely design-focused companies there have been changes, including the switch from Pininfarina to Stile Bertone by modern legend Jason Castriota. So perhaps Mattin’s departure from Volvo is just a normal part of business in a depressed economy. But it could also be a hint at worse times to come.

New Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Introduced by Designers Gordon Wagener, Steffen Koehl

Chrysler 200C EV Concept Interior Design

Klaus Busse, Director – Advanced Interiors and Component; Cecile Giroux, Program Design Manager – Advanced Interiors and Ryan Patrick Joyce, Lead Designer – Chrysler 200C EV concept talk about the all-new Chrysler 200C EV concept

Jaguar XF Supercharged Design Evaluation

By Cor Steenstra with Photography by Chris Jones and Cor Steenstra The models in our extensive photo gallery are Grace Chavez from HBO’s Zane’s, and Jonathan Eng.

The Jaguar XF in both the Supercharged version that we drove, as well as it normally aspirated version, is a very high quality 4 door sedan with a semi-hatch/coupe like body style, very much in line with what Mercedes with the CLS, VW with the CC and Porsche with the Panamera are already producing or about to introduce. We found that the design immediately impresses on passers-by, which is quite a surprise since it does resemble the European larger hatchbacks in a way, but the way the design was executed here, there is definitely no mistaking here: This is a High-End, High Quality dynamic vehicle.

Fit and finish on both exterior and interior was of very high standard, and, as with the XK we drove earlier, the quality of the leather used in the interior and especially the way it was used on the dashboard is really impressive, with clean stitch lines and precise fit. The interior also made quite an impression with its novelty detailing, the air vents that are in hiding when either the airco is not switched on or the car is switched off, and the turn-knob gearshift that is also hiding flush when the ignition is switched off.

Interior space is excellent in the front, and comfortable in the back provided the occupants are not excessively tall. All round vision is very good, and the gadgets at the driver’s disposal for safer driving are plenty. The Supercharged version also was of course very quick on its feet, with enormous power in acceleration and very safe and comfortable drive at higher speeds. We never felt out of control once, which is a sharp contract to for instance our experience with the Lexus IS-F.

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Rinspeed “iChange” 1-2-3-seater with “trick-tail” debuts in Geneva

With the “iChange” the Swiss designers of Rinspeed present a “1-2-3-seater” powered by a 130kw-electric motor. The concept car’s striking body structure adapts via “electronic trick-tail” to the number of passengers: while the sporty and streamlined teardrop shape seats only the driver, two more passengers may join him once the car’s rear end has risen as if by magic. In the blink of an eye the full-blooded sports car turns into a compact sportsvan.

With the Rinspeed “iChange” the automotive jack-of-all-trades Frank M. Rinderknecht and his partners aim to provide thought-provoking impulses for the automobile industry: “Thinking about variability and the constantly changing energy demand, we have created an extremely flexible vehicle.” The result is a zero-emission car featuring both extremely low weight and aerodynamic drag, thus further reducing the power consumption.

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Photoshop Sketch Seminar By Nissan Designer Robert Lemmens

In Episode 61 Robert Lemmens, designer at Nissan’s European Design center in London, was willing to show us how he sketches using Adobe Photoshop.

The Mindset Prototype is running

Murat Günak’s latest baby, the Mindset, is taking its first steps toward series production at the end of 2009 with this driveable prototype spotted in the Swiss mountains. The car will be build by French Heuliez and claims to be the first car fully developed as an electric vehicle rather than a derivative of a normal car, yet the car still features a 2 cylinder, 24 hp diesel engine to feed the batteries after 100 km’s of driving electric, which in essence makes it a hybrid and thereby was beaten to production by the Toyota Prius by around 8 years.

The car is aimed to weigh 850 kgs with a 95 hp electric engine driving the wheels. Mindset is also busy setting up its German infrastructure for sales, maintenance and parts.

New Toyota Camry Design Evaluation