Times are changing in the Japanese carmaker and it’s time for fresh blood, for someone who can make things even better in the company. Therefore, the Japanese manufacturer came up with two big appointments in the last week. There is a new Nissan Design Europe (NDE) vice president, as well as a new global motorsports director.
Matthew Weaver Is new NDE Vice President
The new vice president of NDE is Matthew Weaver. For those who are familiar with the company’s design team, this is a well-known name. Weaver has been part of Nissan for almost two decades and during all these years, he was a part of several big and successful projects. In his portfolio, you can find work on successful models like Qashqai and Juke, as well as a couple of Infiniti models.
Before becoming a vice president of NDE, Weaver was the design director of Nissan London Design Studio. He studied Transport Design at Coventry University, followed by an MA at the Royal College of Art, London and is a part of the Nissan design team since 2001.
Matthew’s first impressions: “I’m really delighted to have been appointed as Vice President of NDE. I’m proud to have worked on many of the Nissan vehicles that went on to become benchmarks in the European market – and beyond. Working daily with a talented, multi-cultural team situated in London, one of the most vibrant cities in the world, is a great basis for us to continue elevating Nissan’s design excellence and innovation.
The recent launch of the new Juke, whose design was led from NDE, has been another great success story for us and I’m looking forward to the next generation of vehicles which will be introduced in the next 12 months to continue that momentum.”
Matthew Weaver succeeds Mamoru Aoki, the living legend who has been with Nissan for almost four decades. This is the first time to see a European in this position.
Tommaso Volpe Is New Global Motorsport Director
Big novelties are also coming from the motorsport department. Tommaso Volpe has been appointed as a new global motorsports director. So far, he has been a director of Infiniti global motorsports and performance projects. Besides new responsibilities, he will retain responsibility for INFINITI’s global motorsports programs.
When it comes to new responsibilities, Nissan’s Formula E, Super GT, Prototype and global GT3 racing activities.
Volpe has a big experience and made some great things with Infiniti’s motorsport department. He strengthened the role of INFINITI in Formula One™, where Infiniti became a technical partner. Also, he participated in Energy Recovery System, the INFINITI Engineering Academy and the Project Black S.
Here are Volpe’s first impressions:
“I’m proud to have brought Nissan’s electric mobility vision to life by working with the Nissan e.dams racing team to achieve six pole positions, six podiums, best qualifying team and rookie of the year,” Carcamo said. “We also took Nissan’s first Formula E win at the NYC E-Prix, and Sebastien Buemi took second place in the overall championship. The journey from concept to racing has been four years of solid effort and reward. I want to thank everyone on the team.”
