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.June 23, 2004
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This Week:

• Saab Unveils Alcohol Lock-Out Key Fob Concept To Help Fight Drinking And Driving

• Ford Motor Company Names Robert L. Shanks New Ford Of Europe And PAG Vice President

• The new A-Class adds the Mercedes dimension to the compact-car segment

• New Nissan Design Studio Readied - Farmington Hills, Mich. Space Nearly Tripling

• GM Announces Management Moves, Reorganization in Europe

• Honda Announces Board Changes in Its North American Operations

• MG Rover & Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Announce Co-Operation Agreement

• Nissan's Decherd Plant To Launch New Pathfinder Engine

• iPod Your BMW

• The Passat - A "classic" for over 30 years now

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New Nissan Design Studio Readied - Farmington Hills, Mich. Space Nearly Tripling
 

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. - Nissan Design America, Inc. is nearing completion of a significant expansion of its automotive design studios in Farmington Hills, Mich., nearly tripling the size and enhancing the capabilities of the facility. The expansion, which is expected to be completed this fall, will create nearly 51,000 square feet of interior studio space, compared with the current 13,200 square feet. There will be 17,780 square feet of exterior space, including an architecturally unique "egg" for viewing concepts. "Nissan's design direction is focused on creating unique, distinctive vehicles, and the expanded structure in Farmington Hills will be unique and distinctive in itself," said NDA President Tom Semple. "The architect for this project, Luce Design in San Diego, has captured the focus of our automobile design in this new space."

Originally, the studio located at the Nissan Technical Center North America served as a bridge between the designers at NDA headquarters in San Diego and the research and development engineers working in Michigan.

The expansion of the Farmington Hills studios will allow NDA designers in Michigan to become more involved in exploratory design than they have in the past.

"This is a key element to Nissan's global expansion program," Semple said. "As a culture, NDA is intent on design exploration not only in cars, but in everything we do."

In the past, NDA has created a broad range of designs, including computers, medical equipment, children's furniture and golf clubs. In January, the Nissan Actic concept car, designed by NDA, was featured at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The expanded Farmington Hills studios adds to the global design capabilities of Nissan, which, in addition to San Diego, has studios in London and Atsugi, Japan, and San Francisco, where, the Nissan 360 program has been held. During the three-week event, close to 500 reporters had the opportunity to drive nearly 70 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles to familiarize themselves with the breadth of Nissan's global product lineup.

(June 16, 2004)