Randy Rodriguez, a 14 year veteran of Nissan Design America and lead designer on numerous projects, has joined Tesla as Senior Lead Exterior Designer.
Rodriguez is the latest in a sea of talented designers to leave established OEM carmaker studios to join fledgling electric automakers.
“I finally made a move and I’m really excited about this next phase of my career,” Rodriguez told Form Trends. “It’s very different here and I’m re-energized to help make an impact.”
An alumni of the College For Creative Studies in Detroit, Rodriguez has worked at the NDA studios in San Diego, California, since graduation. During his college days, he attained internships at Toyota’s advanced studio in Japan, General Motors and ASC Design.
At Nissan, Rodriguez worked as lead exterior designer several production and concept car programs, including the 2009 Nissan 370Z sports car and the 2016 Nissan Titan pickup (and Titan Warrior Concept) as well as the 2013 Nissan Bladeglider, 2012 Infiniti Emerg-E, 2011 Infiniti Etherea, and 2004 Nissan Actic concept vehicles.
He also created the award-winning exterior designs of the 2014 Infiniti Synaptiq and 2010 Nissan IV concepts for the LA Design Challenge.
Rodriguez also did some freelance design work in his spare time, designing the original theme for the 2008 ICON A5 airplane concept, which went into production in 2014.
