Nissan offers acquisition of US workers and suspended pay rise: internal email
Nissan has begun offering acquisitions to U.S. workers and suspended merit-based wage hikes around the world, shown by an internal email reviewed by Reuters, as automakers expand their cost cuts amid low performance in key markets.
Reuters
- The 2026 Infiniti QX60 is one of the vehicles that uses a protective coating to help prevent denim stains in brighter colored seating materials.
- Nissan says there are robots that can replicate more than 10,000 times while sitting in an Infinity car.
Sometimes it’s okay to sit at work.
That’s especially true if that’s your job. This is the case with a robot wearing a jean, which is used by Nissan and Infinity engineers.
We want Nissans to know that they take protection against denim stains seriously thanks to the special seating material coating and the robots mentioned above.
Seat Engineering Manager Evan Frank explained in a discussion with Detroit Free Press, part of the USA Today network. He explained that brightly colored materials are particularly susceptible to transfer dyes from denim to them. This is a phenomenon highlighted in many online videos, suggesting various cleaning methods to expose stains.
Frank, who works at the Nissan Technology Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, outside Detroit, said the dyeing could provide materials such as brightly colored leather, which has a blue mist-like appearance. Soil coatings applied to bright colors also help soil resist staining from other materials including dirt. Frank said it’s not necessary with dark materials.
For example, he said two interior color options, the 3-row 2026 Infinity QX60, stone grey and saddle brown, use protective coatings.
Regarding the robot fitted with Jean, Frank, who has been with Nissan for eight years and has worked on the Infinity QX65 and Nissan Pathfinder, said over the past 20 years, “what our customers are doing has found ways to optimize and make the machines more efficient and realistic paths more efficient and realistic.”
He said coming and going from a pickup is different to doing so in a sports car. For example, the spots that most contact and wear out of the driver’s jeans will vary.
A machine that allows repeated replicating the way someone is sitting in a seat will help engineers manage quality before the vehicle is fired.
Focusing on the seat makes sense for Karl Brauer, executive analyst at ISEecars.com. He said Nissan appears to be more focused on this area than its competitors.
“What is the most interactive item in your car?” he said. “As soon as you’re in the car, you’re always sitting.”
Eric D. Lawrence is a senior car culture reporter for the Detroit Free Press. If you have any tips or suggestions, please contact elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Send a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
