Nissan engineering chief wins prestigious award

A long-standing and hugely respected member of Nissan’s research and development operation has won one of the automotive industry’s most prestigious awards.

David Moss, Senior Vice President for Research and Development across Nissan’s Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania region has been presented with the Mundy Award for Engineering by the automotive title Autocar. This award recognises Moss’s involvement with the development of the Nissan Qashqai, which has grown into one of Nissan’s most influential and popular vehicles since its launch in 2007.

Although Moss has a real depth of expertise and experience, he was selected for this award largely because of his work in creating and developing the Nissan Qashqai of which more than four million examples have been sold globally since its launch in 2007.

‘‘I see this award as recognition of the efforts put in by the many talented colleagues, I have had the pleasure to work with during the years in developing some great cars, especially our flagship Qashqai – this award is for them just as much as it is for me. The Qashqai is such an important car for Nissan and its success is down to the supreme talents of thousands of people across the UK, Spain, Belgium and Germany – the designers, engineers and of course the team building it in Sunderland. It’s a true success story in which I’m delighted to have played my part,” said Moss.

Moss is proud to say that he has been involved with all three generations of Qashqai, from their concept stages to the start of production and is delighted to have seen the model evolve and become a stalwart of the crossover segment.

Moss’s team are also playing a vital role in the company’s transition to electric vehicles, with a mission to reduce emissions and introduce a new wave of connectivity and safety technologies to the market.

Under Nissan’s EV36Zero project, the UK government has already awarded £15m of funding for a £30m collaborative project led by Nissan. This will strengthen the technical expertise and R&D zero emission vehicle capability of the Nissan Technical Centre, increasing opportunities for securing additional UK R&D investment in future vehicle models.

The funding also forms part of Nissan’s wider plans to create a world-first EV manufacturing ecosystem in the UK, enabled by investment of up to £3bn and delivering renewable energy infrastructure, battery gigafactories and future electric versions of Qashqai, Juke and Leaf.