news

Lincoln’s chief designer defects to Nissan

David Woodhouse has quit as Lincoln's head of design, and will become the North American design chief for Nissan and Infiniti from July 1.


Late last week David Woodhouse suddenly quit his job at Ford, where he was the company's head of global strategic design, as well as the director of design for the Lincoln brand.

This lead many in the industry to wonder, "Where is he heading?" That question was answered when he turned up this week at Nissan, where he's become the head of Nissan Design America.

The new job puts Woodhouse in charge of design for both Nissan and Infiniti across North America. He will also have a seat on the company's global design management committee.

Woodhouse became Lincoln's design chief at the end of 2013, and is widely credited with reinvigorating Lincoln's design language to fit its new ethos of "quiet luxury".

The first production embodiment of this was the Lincoln Continental, which made its debut in 2016. The design philosophy has since been applied to the Aviator (above), Corsair, Navigator and Nautilus.

Armed with improved investment from Ford, Lincoln now has a line of vehicles featuring completely unique exterior and interior treatments from their Ford cousins.

Originally from England, Woodhouse studied at the Royal College of Art before working as a designer at BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Cadillac Europe.

He joined Ford's Premier Automotive Group in 1999.

A number of high-profile executives have left Nissan since Carlos Ghosn, the company's chairman and former CEO, was arrested in Japan late last year.

The most recent departure was Christian Meunier, who quit as Infiniti chief to become the head of Jeep.

MORE:Ford Showroom
MORE:Ford News
MORE:Ford Reviews
MORE:Search Used Ford Cars for Sale
MORE:Ford Showroom
MORE:Ford News
MORE:Ford Reviews
MORE:Search Used Ford Cars for Sale
Chat with us!







Chat with Agent