The Man Who Penned the Nissan Juke Will Now Lead the Brand’s Global Design Team
Nissan today announced that global design chief Alfonso Albaisa will step down on October 1.Albaisa has worked at Nissan since 1988 and has led the global design team since 2017.He will be replaced by Matthew W...
- Nissan today announced that global design chief Alfonso Albaisa will step down on October 1.
- Albaisa has worked at Nissan since 1988 and has led the global design team since 2017.
- He will be replaced by Matthew Weaver, who has worked in Nissan's design department since 2001 and is credited with designing the first-generation Juke.
A notable design shift is about to happen at Nissan. Today, the Japanese automaker announced that its global design chief, Alfonso Albaisa, will step down on October 1 after 10 years in the position. He will be replaced by Matthew Weaver, who currently serves as senior design director and has worked at Nissan since 2001.
Alfonso Albaisa will step down on October 1 after 10 years leading Nissan’s global design operations.
Albaisa will continue on as an adviser through the end of 2026 to help ease Weaver's transition into the new role, Nissan said. Albaisa joined Nissan's American design team in 1988, working his way up to director of Nissan Design America in 2004. He later served as vice president for Nissan Design Europe and headed up Infiniti, before assuming the global design chief position in 2017.
During his tenure, Albaisa oversaw the look of several significant new Nissan and Infiniti projects. He led the design of the Nissan Z, which arrived in 2023 as a successor to the 370Z and sported a sleek, classically styled look that recalled the iconic Datsun sports cars that made the Z moniker famous. Albaisa also oversaw the smooth, modern design of the Ariya electric SUV.
Albaisa made waves as the first non-Japanese executive to lead global design at a Japanese automaker, according to Automotive News. He made a name for himself with clean but expressive designs, from his involvement in the jellybean-like Infiniti J30 to the QX50 SUV and the dramatic Prototype 9 concept from 2017.
Weaver is credited with penning the first-generation Juke.
Weaver is also a long-time Nissan employee, starting with the company in 2001 and previously leading Nissan's European design team in London before shifting to the global design headquarters in Japan in 2025. Before his time at Nissan, he worked at both Ford and Volkswagen.
Weaver is known for his work on the first-generation Juke, which sported a polarizing front end covered in curves and creases, and he helped popularize the split-headlight look that has become commonplace on modern SUVs. Weaver also contributed to the design of the strong-selling Qashqai, a compact SUV offered in Europe.
The transition comes at an interesting time for Nissan, which is gearing up to launch a bevy of new products to help reverse its fortunes in an increasingly competitive market. The designs of many of these models, from the new Skyline that will spawn an Infiniti sedan to the next-generation Xterra off-roader and the upcoming hybrid Rogue e-Power, are likely already set in stone. That suggests Weaver will be tasked with leading the design of the next generation of cars that could build upon the success of Nissan's soon-to-arrive replenished lineup.
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Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.