Nissan’s London Design Centre to downsize as cost saving continues

Nissan is set to downsize its London design studio, as well as scaling back design operations worldwide to help bring the cash-strapped manufacturer out of the red. The changes come as part of a cost-saving plan announced earlier this year, with Nissan attempting to raise £5.2billion to stay afloat after posting a record loss of around £3.8bn for the 2024-25 financial year.

The Japanese manufacturer will close its design centres in California and Sao Paulo, and the Paddington design studio – which notably designed the Qashqai – will reportedly have its workforce reduced, although this has yet to be confirmed. The ‘strategic realignment’ – which comes as part of the Japanese marque’s ‘Re:Nissan’ plan – will consolidate Nissan’s design organization into five hubs: Los Angeles , Shanghai, Tokyo, Japan ‘s Atsugi and London.

Nissan’s London Design Centre, the heart of Nissan Design Europe located in Paddington, will remain the backbone of Africa, Middle East, India , Europe and Oceania regions in collaboration with partner Renault. Nissan has not yet disclosed how many jobs could be lost from London’s Design Centre, and has declined to comment at this time. The Japanese car maker said the restructuring will be completed by the end of fiscal 2025.

In a statement on Tuesday, Alfonso Albaisa, corporate executive of Global Design at Nissan said: ‘We are reshaping our operations into five agile hubs that harness new technologies and creative energy to deliver faster, smarter, and more connected design solutions, ensuring resilience and relevance in a rapidly evolving industry’. Nissan further said that the consolidation will allow it to better align resources while embedding technology at the core of the design process.

The Design Centre in London has been a key part of Nissan’s past success in Europe, creating cars including the Pathfinder, original Juke and new Micra EV . The Micra is one of three new cars Nissan is hoping will turn around its fortunes, alongside the new Leaf and Juke EVs – and the latter two will be built at Sunderland.

The European design hub celebrated 22 years in London in January, with the doors at The Rotunda opening in 2003 after relocation from Germany. The move to reshape the Japanese marque’s design setup isn’t unprecedented as Nissan confirmed it would cut 20,000 jobs and close seven factories earlier this year after the struggling manufacturer said it needs to find £2.6bn in savings across the business.

Although job losses remain up in the air it is good news that London’s Design Centre is saved. Similarly Nissan’s Sunderland UK production home is staying open, with the Government ploughing £1bn into the site as a loan to safeguard jobs.

Employing roughly 6,000 people, Nissan however said around 250 jobs would be cut from Sunderland as part of the global shake up. Nissan previously stated that its Re:Nissan Plan ‘aims for positive operating profitability and free cash flow in the automotive business by FY 2026’.