Nissan’s has built a Catamaran to compete in the 2011 Class A Catamaran World Championship from August 13- 20 in Skødstrup, Denmark.

Matt Struble, led the design and modeling team at Nissan Design America (NDA) and will be racing the boat. The Class A Catamaran is controlled by a single sailor and is the smallest size of all Catamaran race boats. The boat was designed and built entirely by Nissan, and as Struble said, it truly is a clean, smooth, competitive and efficient boat.

“We weren’t trying to create something that already exists, but something groundbreaking,” Struble said. “This has truly been a great experience and great project for us. This one in particular was quite unique because you have to create it in your mind, but also physically manufacture it and follow through. It was great for our team to see the project from start to finish.”

It may look a little extreme, but the Nissan NV2500 Concept will see production in some form or another as Nissan has announced it will enter the commercial truck business in North America in 2010. Unveiled at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, the NV2500 is designed to be not only a way to transport materials but also a comprehensive work station.

“The Nissan NV2500 is a rolling idea lab – bringing a new perspective to the Commercial Vehicle segment,” said Bruce Campbell, vice president, Design for Nissan Design America, Inc., which developed the NV2500 Concept.  “We see the NV2500 Concept as an ongoing exploration of ways to make these vehicles more than just a box on four wheels. Our goal is to enhance utility through creative design solutions, providing a platform for a wide variety of specific professional applications.”

The NV2500 is based on the Titan fully-boxed ladder frame chassis and while Nissan isn’t providing any information on engine choices the company has said it is in talks with Cummins. The trucks will also get automatic transmissions and a solid rear axle. On the concept vehicle were a set of 20-inch wheels.

To make the NV2500 a usable work-space, Nissan has included a long list of innovations. Inside the truck is a computer workstation, a built-in laser blue[printer, numerous 110/22W power outlets, vacuum hose outlets, a fold-down conference table, several storage compartments, cargo and tool tie-down racks and an awning-style panel that opens the entire side of the truck,  creating an outside workshop table. And in order to make all that interior work-space livable, Nissan has made the ceiling almost 6-feet high.

Outside, the NV2500 is enormous with a 147.6 (12.3-foot) wheelbase and an overall length of 234-inches (19.5 feet).  It is 8 feet tall and 6.6-feet wide. Interior room is enormous and objects as large as 10.5-feet long can be transported.

Nissan will begin production of three North American-specific vehicles based on the NV2500 Concept in 2009, to be built at Nissan’s Canton, Miss., plant. Of the three vehicles, the top-line models will receive a class 5 gross vehicle rating, meaning they will weight between 16.001 and 19,500 lbs.

Nissan NV2500 Concept:

Official release after the jump:

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Nissan has announced that as of April 1st it will begin closing its Detroit Design Studio (aka, Nissan Design America) as well as restructure its sales and marketing departments. What this will mean is the loss of 110 jobs. And that’s no April Fools Joke.

Only 10 of those jobs will be lost in the design department, however, as Nissan plans to integrate the Detroit (Farmington Hills) office into its San Diego facility. The Farmington Hills NDA building is itself a great piece of architectural design and will continue to stay in Nissan’s hands and will likely be used by those Nissan staff at the Nissan Technical Center in Farmington Hills.

The majority of the job losses will occur in the marketing department as Nissan moves to eliminate several regional sales offices (including Nissan Mid-Atlantic in Herndon, Va.; Nissan Northwest in Pleasanton, Calif.; Infiniti Central in Aurora, Ill.; and Infiniti South in Atlanta). The closures will see the current 11 regional offices be decreased to just 7 offices with 23 satellite offices.

Official release after the jump:

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