The Nissan Michigan Design Studio was founded as a styling department in NRD in 1989, and then Integrated into Nissan design America in 2000.

Nissan's Design Studio in Farmington Hills, Mich.
Source: Architecture Page

The San Diego-based Nissan Design America was founded in 1979 under the name of Nissan Design International, Inc. and changed the company name to Nissan Design America, Inc. in 2000.

From the official Press Release:

Nissan is realigning some of its North American operations to ensure competitiveness in the U.S. market. The actions include a restructuring of the Nissan North America (NNA) sales and marketing operations and the integration of Nissan Design America (NDA).

NDA is integrating its operations into its San Diego studio beginning April 1. This action is being taken to strengthen NDA’s role in Nissan’s global design organization by increasing the level of participation in the exploratory and advanced phases of North American and global design projects.

This integration will result in the redeployment of the design facility in Farmington Hills, Mich., for use by other functions of the company. This does not impact the research and development operations at Nissan Technical Center North America, which has facilities in Farmington Hills and in Stanfield, Ariz.

In addition to this, NNA is restructuring its sales and marketing field operations to be better positioned to serve dealers and consumers. Specific actions include transitioning from a field structure based on 11 regional sales offices to a new structure with seven regional sales offices and 23 satellite offices in 18 locations across the United States.

This shift involves the closure of four regional sales offices: Nissan Mid-Atlantic in Herndon, Va.; Nissan Northwest in Pleasanton, Calif.; Infiniti Central in Aurora, Ill.; and Infiniti South in Atlanta.

Additional enhancements to the sales and marketing organization include expanded personnel assigned to support each dealer and the creation of a dedicated electric vehicle project team.

Taken together, these actions will eliminate approximately 110 positions. Nissan intends to achieve the majority of these reductions through a voluntary transition plan.

(Source: Nissan)