Nissan has hired David Woodhouse to serve as vice president, Nissan Design America (NDA). In this role, Woodhouse will lead all Nissan and INFINITI design activities in North America. He will also serve on the company’s Global Nissan Design Management Committee.

“As we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Nissan Design America, I am pleased that David Woodhouse will be leading and inspiring our talented team in San Diego,” said Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice president, Global Design, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. “David’s talent, leadership and vision will ensure that NDA shapes an exciting future for the Infiniti and Nissan brands as well as groundbreaking user experience concepts for our customers for years to come.”

Nissan NDA

David Woodhouse will be leading and inspiring Nissan’s talented team in San Diego

Woodhouse brings more than 25 years of global automotive design expertise to his new role at Nissan. Most recently, he served as Lincoln design director at Ford Motor Company. His career includes time with a number of global premium brands, including Mini, Cadillac, Range Rover and BMW.

Ford made a brief statement on the departure. David Woodhouse, Lincoln and Ford Strategic Design Director, has elected to leave the company.  We thank him for his contributions, including delivering critically acclaimed Lincoln products such as the Continental, Navigator and Aviator and, we wish David well in his future endeavor.

David Woodhouse Ford Lincoln

“Designers often find a need to grow and explore new projects and opportunities, both personally and professionally. David is not alone in that quest. We wish him the best in his new position,” says John Grafman, Executive Director – AutoDesignO.

David Woodhouse’s talent, leadership and vision will ensure that NDA shapes an exciting future

Founded in 1979, Nissan Design America was Nissan’s first design studio outside of Japan. Today, NDA is a full-production design studio capable of handling all phases of automotive design development, from exploratory to production. NDA designs vehicles for global markets with a particular emphasis on the North American region. The studio works in close collaboration with its global design counterparts, including Nissan Technical Centers in Japan and North America.

David Woodhouse Ford Lincoln

NDA creates innovative designs that contribute significantly to the continued evolution of the company’s brands and the advancement of Nissan Intelligent Mobility. 

Nissan Design America (NDA) began as Nissan Design International in 1979 in San Diego. The facility was established as a satellite studio for Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Its original mission was to provide a local perspective on the North American market and generate innovative ideas and design. After 40 years in operation, NDA is now a full-production automotive design studio capable of handling all phases of automotive design development, from exploratory to production. NDA also has had design support operations in Silicon Valley (California, U.S.) since 2013.

Nissan NDA

NDA is part of the Global Nissan Design organization led by Alfonso Albaisa, Senior Vice President of Global Design for Nissan Motor Co. The global organization consists of NDA, Nissan Global Design Center (NGDC, Atsugi, Japan), Creative Box, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan), Nissan Design Europe (London), Nissan Design China (Shanghai, China) and small design offices in India, Thailand and Brazil.

NDA designs vehicles for global markets with a particular emphasis on North America.

NDA designs vehicles with emphasis on the Americas region with sensitivity for the global market, in close collaboration with its counterparts at NGDC and Nissan Technical Centers in Japan and North America. NDA’s recent contribution includes the all-new 2019 Altima, Maxima and Murano refresh, Titan full-size truck, as well as Nissan IMs concept which debuted at the 2019 North American International Auto Show.

 

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