Nissan European R&D celebrates 20th anniversary

In the midst of the launch of the new Qashqai+2, Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE) - Nissan’s European R&D centre and home of the Qashqai – proudly celebrates its 20th anniversary on Sunday 7 September 2008.

NTCE was established in July 1988 as Nissan European Technology Centre Ltd (NETC) in temporary premises on the Nissan Sunderland Plant site as part of Nissan’s strategy to establish Research and Development capability in the major overseas markets.

NETC’s original role was to develop vehicles for the European market which were to be produced at Nissan’s plants in Spain and the UK (this included new model development such as Micra and Terrano II) and modifications to existing vehicles.

In November 1989 Nissan invested £31m in NETC for sites on the Cranfield University Technology Park in Bedfordshire and at the Nissan Sunderland Plant. The two sites became operational in September 1991 with Cranfield being responsible for body, chassis, electrical, engine, trim design, component experiment, trial vehicles and project control. Sunderland focussed on whole vehicle tests and the enhancement of vehicles already in production.

A further £20m investment in early 1992 allowed NETC to build and test prototype vehicles and increase its capacity for the testing of European models.

In January 2000, NETC, its subsidiaries and the US sister company Nissan Research and Development Inc. (NRD) were renamed Nissan Technical Centres; NTC Europe (NTCE) and NTC North America (NTCNA) as additional emphasis was placed on a global functional R&D organisation, sharing and collaborating on work and resources.

Since its establishment, the Nissan European R&D function has continued to expand its role by demonstrating its ability to support the early stages of product development and successfully manage vehicle lifecycle activities; European R&D is now capable of taking lead responsibility for vehicle development within the Nissan global R&D function.

Significant recent NTCE projects include development of the Micra C+C, Qashqai, Qashqai +2 and Pathfinder.

NTCE’s expansion into the rest of Europe has continued steadily since 1989 and now NTCE boasts functions in Barcelona (diesel engine & vehicle development), Brussels (engine & vehicle research), Bonn (dynamic performance development), Paris (European market quality), and Moscow (customer oriented engineering & field surveys); whilst retaining vehicle & petrol engine development and European market quality functions at Cranfield which remains the NTCE European HQ.

NTCE now delivers brand identity and customer oriented engineering through new products whilst enhancing vehicle attractiveness. It contributes to purchasing cost reduction, to initial quality targets, and to the many synergies arising from working in alliance with Renault - for example engine and platform sharing.

From humble beginnings and throughout its development history, NTCE is an integral part of, and major contributor to, Nissan’s business in Europe and Nissan’s global development organisation.