Exhibition salutes 50 years of Nissan design

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Nissan has opened an exhibition in Tokyo to show off what its design department has been doing for the past 50 years.

The show also looks at what its designers will be doing.

The Japanese carmaker set up its first studio in February 1954. Among the first cars penned were the Bluebird 310 and Fairlady 1500.

Since then it has made a lasting contribution to automotive design with vehicles such as the Z-range of sports cars, the giant-killing Skyline GT-R and four-wheel-drive Patrol.

But its creations through the 1950s and early 60s were largely uninspiring until the birth of the Fairlady 2000 in 1967.

This car changed Nissan forever. From it, two years later, came the 240Z, which went on to become the best-selling sports car in the world. The Cherry and Sunny boosted exports through the 1970s, and in 1979 Nissan set up its first design studio outside of Japan, in San Diego, California.

This studio produced the 1986 Terrano, among many concept vehicles. It and a European design division set in Munich, Germany, in 1992 also helped to produce models such as the Skyline GT-R, mid-range Primera and small Micra.

Following the Renault-Nissan alliance in 1999, the company's chief executive, Brazilian Carlos Ghosn, decided on bold design as the new "face" of Nissan.

He laid out a revival plan for Nissan, which was billions of dollars in debt when Renault took over, and hired noted Japanese designer Shiro Nakamura to revive its image while retaining its Japanese influence.

Between 2000 and 2003, Nakamura and his 700-strong team came up with 23 new production models and 19 concept cars. Ghosn's plan worked. Nissan had reaffirmed its position in the global market.

Japan's oldest carmaker (it began in 1912) now has six global design studios. The latest, opened last year in London, penned the Qashqai concept cross-over vehicle, which won the Best Concept Car Award at this year's British motor show.