Nissan designer: GM has lost touch with drivers
04-01-06 | 06:56 AM
#1
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Nissan designer: GM has lost touch with drivers
Nakamura: GM Has Lost Touch With Drivers
By YURI KAGEYAMA
The Associated Press
Friday, March 31, 2006; 1:30 AM
TOKYO -- General Motors Corp. is struggling because the U.S. automaker has forgotten over the years how to make cars that truly cater to consumers, Nissan's head designer said Friday.
"There was a lack of customer-orientation," Nissan Motor Co. Senior Vice President Shiro Nakamura said of GM's woes.
Nakamura, design chief at Nissan since 2000, was previously employed at Japanese truckmaker Isuzu Motors Ltd. Isuzu had a partnership with GM since the 1970s, and Nakamura worked with GM designers in the 1980s under that alliance.
On Thursday, GM said it was selling its 7.9 percent stake in Isuzu but said the cooperative relationship will continue.
Nakamura said he had "no idea" what GM's decision will mean for Isuzu's future because details of the deal weren't clear. But he expressed a fondness for GM's past glory, noting he worked with the world's best during his years at GM.
"It was a great experience for me," he said at a Nissan facility in Tokyo, which will offer car design classes to Japanese university students from June.
Nissan already sponsors car design projects at universities in Japan, Germany, South Korea and other nations. The latest initiative is an internship program for aspiring car designers.
Japanese universities tend to lag behind their foreign counterparts in car design instruction, and Nissan hopes to offset that through its new program, said Nakamura, who becomes chief creative officer next month, overseeing brand marketing as well as auto design.
GM's decision on Isuzu is part of the Detroit-based manufacturer's rapid shedding of stake ownership in Japanese automakers in an effort to raise sorely needed cash. General Motors, which has seen its U.S. market share eroded by Asian competition, lost $10.6 billion in 2005.
Earlier this month, GM sold 17 percent of Suzuki Motor Corp., which makes small cars, for about $2 billion, leaving it with a 3 percent stake. That followed last year's sale of GM's entire 20 percent stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru cars.
source : Washingtonpost
Nakamura has been responsible for such designs as the Infiniti Coupe Concept and GT-R (shown below).
source : leftlanenews
By YURI KAGEYAMA
The Associated Press
Friday, March 31, 2006; 1:30 AM
TOKYO -- General Motors Corp. is struggling because the U.S. automaker has forgotten over the years how to make cars that truly cater to consumers, Nissan's head designer said Friday.
"There was a lack of customer-orientation," Nissan Motor Co. Senior Vice President Shiro Nakamura said of GM's woes.
Nakamura, design chief at Nissan since 2000, was previously employed at Japanese truckmaker Isuzu Motors Ltd. Isuzu had a partnership with GM since the 1970s, and Nakamura worked with GM designers in the 1980s under that alliance.
On Thursday, GM said it was selling its 7.9 percent stake in Isuzu but said the cooperative relationship will continue.
Nakamura said he had "no idea" what GM's decision will mean for Isuzu's future because details of the deal weren't clear. But he expressed a fondness for GM's past glory, noting he worked with the world's best during his years at GM.
"It was a great experience for me," he said at a Nissan facility in Tokyo, which will offer car design classes to Japanese university students from June.
Nissan already sponsors car design projects at universities in Japan, Germany, South Korea and other nations. The latest initiative is an internship program for aspiring car designers.
Japanese universities tend to lag behind their foreign counterparts in car design instruction, and Nissan hopes to offset that through its new program, said Nakamura, who becomes chief creative officer next month, overseeing brand marketing as well as auto design.
GM's decision on Isuzu is part of the Detroit-based manufacturer's rapid shedding of stake ownership in Japanese automakers in an effort to raise sorely needed cash. General Motors, which has seen its U.S. market share eroded by Asian competition, lost $10.6 billion in 2005.
Earlier this month, GM sold 17 percent of Suzuki Motor Corp., which makes small cars, for about $2 billion, leaving it with a 3 percent stake. That followed last year's sale of GM's entire 20 percent stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru cars.
source : Washingtonpost
Nakamura has been responsible for such designs as the Infiniti Coupe Concept and GT-R (shown below).
source : leftlanenews
04-02-06 | 06:56 PM
#4
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 832
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From: Illinois
it's funny
wasn't nissan on it's way out?
didn't they sort of get lucky
most people think that they gambled and it worked out - nothing else
too bad nissan has and always will have some silly quality problems
wasn't nissan on it's way out?
didn't they sort of get lucky
most people think that they gambled and it worked out - nothing else
too bad nissan has and always will have some silly quality problems
04-05-06 | 01:13 AM
#6
Originally Posted by IVXX
I dunno if nissan gets to talk **** like that, if you compared the good looking GM models to good looking infiniti/nissan I think nissan would eat those words.
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04-05-06 | 06:21 AM
#8
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,015
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From: FL
Originally Posted by LexArazzo
C6 Corvette is the only beautiful looking GM design right now . . .
yea its been the same design for the past 20 years though. what car actually is new and looks good besides some of the cadilacs
04-05-06 | 08:45 AM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,588
Likes: 88
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
Originally Posted by tonydt1g3r
yea its been the same design for the past 20 years though. what car actually is new and looks good besides some of the cadilacs
The new Tahoe and other full-size SUV's are fair-to-good-looking on the outside; STUNNING on the inside...especially the dash. A full mmarshall review of the new Tahoe is coming up shortly...probably later this week.
04-05-06 | 02:56 PM
#12
Originally Posted by IVXX
and etc.
The Cadillacs are edgy but not exactly good looking. But oh well it's very subjective.
The Corvette looks great but like tony said it's been the same for a LONG time.
I think the Infiniti Coupe Concept is far more superior than most of the GMs these days.
04-05-06 | 05:16 PM
#13
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,027
Likes: 4
From: CA
GM makes cars for construction workers & soccer moms.
Nissan makes craps like Sentra for people who have been taking buses for living. Nissan also makes junks like Altima & Maxima for posers who want to put BIG @SS wheels
Why I hate Nissan so bad? Cuz I work for them
Nissan makes craps like Sentra for people who have been taking buses for living. Nissan also makes junks like Altima & Maxima for posers who want to put BIG @SS wheels
Why I hate Nissan so bad? Cuz I work for them
04-05-06 | 10:54 PM
#14
The Green Grundel
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,323
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From: MN
I dunno globe I guess its a matter of opinions. I would much rather have a STS over a ho-hum too-litte too-late wanna-be LFA infiniti coupe. But thats just an opinion, and you know what they say about those... 
