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Hirohisa Ono, having been promoted from Senior Design Manager to the director of Infiniti Design at the Nissan Design America studio in San Diego, was the main driving force behind the QX30’s exterior design and Automobile had a chance to sit down and ask him 10 questions.
Most of the questions revolved around the design process of a new vehicles, what inspires him and what the future of Infiniti holds. We’ll skip the full interview and give everyone a run-down of the main points pertaining to the QX30.
The design process started back in 2010 when he sketched out the Qx30 on paper, researching historical Infiniti designs and making it more elegant, emotional and muscular. Ono seems to find inspiration everywhere, from things like furniture and fashion to other countries and the people he meets along his travels.
Once that was done, they move on to scale model discussions with the engineer and ending with a full-size clay model. Communication is key every step of the way as it’s not just about the creation of a flowing exterior design, but the process of excellent technology procurement and accommodating each individual supplier.
One thing he mentioned, and a good indicator of what future infiniti models could looks like, was how much of the original design concepts he tries to keep. “With concept to production, we try to stay as honest as we’re able. We want that consistency.”
The full interview transcript can be read from Automobile, let us know what you think.
