Nissan Opens European Design Centre in London

Tokyo, Japan, Jan. 23, 2003 - (JCN Newswire) - Carlos Ghosn, President
and CEO, Nissan Motor Company and Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President
and Head of Design, Nissan Motor Company, today officially opened the
company's new design studio in London that will lead the development of
the next generation of Nissan cars in Europe and beyond.

Nissan Design Europe will be home to around 50 international designers,
modellers and support staff and will play a strategically important role
in Nissan’s creative network which comprises six design studios
worldwide. 

"Design is fundamental at Nissan. Most importantly it is a key driver
behind NISSAN 180, our global growth plan. Today's event is the
demonstration of the value we attribute to design as we continue to
create and launch exciting and attractive cars specially designed with
European customers in mind." said Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO,
Nissan Motor Company.

Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President and Head of Design, Nissan Motor
Company said: "Today's opening fully demonstrates our commitment to
design and innovation in the motor industry. The location that we have
chosen is ideal, as it will allow our design teams a unique space within
which to explore, define and create their ideas." 

The central London location in the rapidly developing area of the
Paddington Basin was chosen because of its multi-cultural backdrop and
the access it provides to important and influential sources in
contemporary art, architecture, fashion and design movements. 

The studio is housed in The Rotunda, a former British Rail maintenance
depot built in the 1960s which had fallen into disrepair and been unused
since the 1980s. The site was selected specifically for its spacious
interior which allowed Nissan to transform the building into a
tailor-made urban design space. 

The Rotunda renovation programme has been led by architects Tate and
Hindle. The interior has been designed based on the Japanese concept of
"wa", meaning harmony, and reflects a fusion of European and Asian
influences.

Nissan Design Europe at The Rotunda combines design resources previously
located near Munich in Germany and Cranfield in the UK. Nissan Design
Europe has increased its staff by 25 percent, a further indication of
the importance of the studio to Nissan’s global design operations.

The design studio features a purpose-built CAD (computer aided design)
suite, a presentation room, a showroom, a number of model making
machines and a 'chill out' zone for relaxation and the sharing of ideas.
Other features include a special lighting system that recreates
different types of daylight to assist designers and artists in their
work.

Last year, Nissan sold 466,613 vehicles in Europe, over 80 percent of
which were manufactured locally. Nissan employs over 12,000 people
across its European operations which include design, research and
development, manufacturing, sales, marketing and logistics.


About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.  was established in
1933 to manufacture and market the Datsun, a small passenger car, and
related automotive components. The company is Japan's second
largest automobile manufacturer and the world's fifth, with annual
global sales of 2,415,433 vehicles. The company markets a wide range of
passenger cars, commercial vans, trucks and buses, parts and components
in over one hundred and seventy countries. The company has also expanded
its operations to include forklifts, textile machinery and other
industrial machinery and equipment. Nissan's affiliation with
French automaker Renault in 1999 has helped produce Nissan's best
results in a decade. The company has three hundred and forty two
consolidated subsidiaries worldwide. Consolidated sales in FY 2000
exceeded $49 billion dollars (Euro 55 billion.)For further information,
please visit the Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. home page at: www.nissan.co.jp/
<http://www.nissan.co.jp/>