New Nissan design chief: One foot in design, one foot in engineering

Earlier this year, Nissan surprised the industry by announcing that design director Shiro Nakamura was retiring after nearly two decades with the company, with Alfonso Albaisa, since 2014 the design chief at the brand's Infiniti upscale division, to take his place.

Cuban-American Albaisa, 52, is Nissan's first non-Japanese design director. He started his career with Nissan Design in 1988 and as head of Nissan's global design will oversee a staff of approximately 700 responsible for the styling of the company's full model range, including commercial vehicles.