Conran’s treatment includes seat fabric with “patterns inspired by romantic shadows of spring leaves and flowers”...

Fuel cell vehicle: Nissan plans to deliver its first fuel cell vehicle to the United States in the 2008 or 2009 model year. It is unknown whether the fuel cell vehicle will be a separate model or a version of a new model, such as the small crossover vehicle.

Baby boomer vehicle: Researchers at Nissan's design center have identified a target of consumers in their late 50s to 60s who want a functional vehicle to meet nearly all needs. This person wants a comfortable vehicle that is not yet offered - a combination of the Murano crossover, Xterra SUV and Titan pickup. Seats positioned for a good view of the road are important. The designers are sketching a vehicle around these people. No timetable has been mentioned.

Baby boomer vehicle: Researchers at Nissan's design center have identified a target of consumers in their late 50s to 60s who want a functional vehicle to meet nearly all needs. This person wants a comfortable vehicle that is not yet offered - a combination of the Murano crossover, Xterra SUV and Titan pickup. Seats positioned for a good view of the road are important. The designers are sketching a vehicle around these people.

Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura actually has three job titles at Nissan Motor Co. He is senior vice president and design director at Nissan's Tokyo headquarters. He is president of Nissan Design America in San Diego, where the company turns out vehicle designs for North America and the world. And he is president of Nissan Design Europe, the center Nissan opened four years ago to design products for Europe.

Part of his work is managing design staff and resources around the world. And part of it is art. Nakamura, 55, turned out the Nissan 350Z and the Murano crossover. His new-generation Infiniti G35 sedan reaches U.S. dealerships this month. He spoke with Automotive News Staff Reporter Lindsay Chappell.

The redesigned Altima and Infiniti G35 are coming to the market about the same time. What can we see of Nissan in those two products?

It's a very significant moment for us. Each car represents the largest-volume vehicle in its brand. And they both represent the first full remodeling since our Nissan Revitalization Plan with Carlos Ghosn. The last Altima came out in 2001, just at the beginning of the revitalization. It was our first chance to show the world what we had in mind on how Nissan was to be positioned. Now in 2006 we're starting the second wave of new products. And following them will be the Maxima, a new Murano and new additional products that I can't talk about yet.

We've had a full cycle to perfect our vision. The changes are not revolutionary. We kept the same design language. It's more modern, more solid and more expressive. This might be hard to see in only one model. But you'll see it as it spreads over all the new models.

What is the fundamental difference now between Nissan's styling and Infiniti's?

We want to clearly separate Nissan and Infiniti. We have Infiniti moving toward a more emotional styling. Infiniti should be, in some ways, unpredictable. Nissan is clear. For Nissan, simplicity is important because it's a mainstream product. It has to be accessible to be understood by a lot of people. Customers don't want to feel something mysterious.

For Infiniti, the styling is more like art. It is functional, of course. But functionality is what you drive at 60 miles an hour on the freeway. The expressiveness of the car is what moves your heart. The Altima is like a pair of comfortable jeans. An Infiniti is like a nice suit. You pay a bit more for it, but there is something about the way it makes you feel when you wear it.

Are there any internal debates about what Infiniti design should be?

There's no disagreement about what Infiniti is or what it should be. It's perfectly clear to everyone at Nissan.

But that wasn't always so.

No. Before 2000, it was terrible. On some models, there was almost no vision. The sedan, the I30, was pretty good. But there was not a clear mission for the brand. Now we're completely clear. There's no debate.

Bruce Campbell, the vice president of your U.S. design center, designed the new Altima. But to do it, he lived and worked in Japan for a year. How come?

The U.S. is the primary market for the Altima, so it should be designed with U.S. sensibilities in mind. But it is still a global product, and it was a global project. There are other models based on the platform. It was important that Bruce be where the larger project is taking place to create the Altima.

Collaboration is critical for us in Japan and the U.S. and Europe. We're one company operating globally. But we still operate under a common vision.

But that's not true of every model you do.

No, it depends on the project.

The routine seems to differ by the model.

We have a limited amount of design resources. Determining where we do a project is my responsibility. We're always changing design schedules and moving work. I come to the U.S. design center every two months. I travel to Europe to see how it's going. If I see things need help, I can move work around.

Do you need to hire more people?

We now have 1,000 people in design around the world. In terms of quantity, we're big enough - although the expansion continues. If you come to the Atsugi technical center, you'll see buildings under construction.

But I don't want to get any bigger than this. What I'd rather focus on is quality, not quantity, getting our people to do better work on whatever project they're doing.

How do you do that?

Through more education, through more experience, and sometimes rotating people into other assignments.

What is influencing Nissan's design today?

I don't want to be influenced. I want to be inspired. And what inspires me might not be direct. It could be the line of a wine glass. It might be the feeling of a movie. This iPod (he pulls from his jacket pocket a white device the size of a business card) is very interesting-looking to me. And this cell phone (he pulls a small white phone from another pocket). I just bought the phone. It looks just like my iPod, but they're from different manufacturers. Something about the two of them together intrigues me. Every time you are impressed by something around you, it makes your design better.