Nissan to Close Detroit Design Studio

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:

NISSAN REALIGNS U.S. SALES & MARKETING, DESIGN OPERATIONS
Franklin, Tenn. –
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (Jan. 27, 2009) – Nissan is realigning some of its North American operations to ensure long-term competitiveness in the U.S. market. The actions include a restructuring of the Nissan North America (NNA) sales and marketing operations and the integration of Nissan Design America (NDA).

NNA is restructuring its sales and marketing field operations to be better positioned to serve dealers and consumers. Specific actions include transitioning from a field structure based on 11 regional sales offices to a new structure with seven regional sales offices and 23 satellite offices in 18 locations across the United States. This shift involves the closure of four regional sales offices: Nissan Mid-Atlantic in Herndon, Va.; Nissan Northwest in Pleasanton, Calif.; Infiniti Central in Aurora, Ill.; and Infiniti South in Atlanta.

Additional enhancements to the sales and marketing organization include expanded personnel assigned to support each dealer and the creation of a dedicated electric vehicle project team.

NDA is integrating its operations into its San Diego studio beginning April 1. This action is being taken to strengthen NDA’s role in Nissan’s global design organization by increasing the level of participation in the exploratory and advanced phases of North American and global design projects. This integration will result in the redeployment of the design facility in Farmington Hills, Mich., for use by other functions of the company. This does not impact the research and development operations at Nissan Technical Center North America, which has facilities in Farmington Hills and in Stanfield, Ariz.

Taken together, these actions will eliminate approximately 110 positions. Nissan intends to achieve the majority of these reductions through a voluntary transition plan.