Autech ( オーテック , Ōtekku ) is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused on tuning and converting Nissan cars. Autech was a subsidiary company of Nissan from its establishment in 1986 to 2022, when it was merged with Nismo .
5-531: Autech was founded in 1986 as a subsidiary of Nissan. Nissan named Shinichiro Sakurai , the former general manager of the company's Advanced Vehicle Design Department, as the first president of the new company. On 27 May 1987 Autech and the Italian company Zagato signed an agreement to jointly produce a luxury sports car aimed mainly at the Japanese market. Autech was responsible for the engine and chassis, and Zagato of
10-661: A new company called Nissan Motorsports & Customizing Co., Ltd. . The merge was completed on 1 April 2022. The head offices and factory are located in Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture . There are additional offices in Nagoya and Fukuoka and an ASEAN office in Bangkok , Thailand. Autech modifies various vehicles to adapt them for use by disabled people and to meet the needs of different work areas. It also has tuned Nissan cars. Some cars produced by Autech ("Autech Version") include
15-660: The Japanese automotive industry, which was his first intent. He later joined Prince as a chassis engineer in 1952, and was heavily involved in the development of the first generation Nissan Skyline (also called the Prince Skyline). He continued to head the Nissan Skyline project long after the Nissan takeover, headed the Nissan MID4 project, and was appointed President of Autech (a Nissan subsidiary) in 1986. He continued to work in
20-546: The following: Shinichiro Sakurai Shinichiro Sakurai ( 桜井 眞一郎 , Sakurai Shin'ichirō , 1929–2011) was a Japanese engineer inducted into the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame who originally worked for Prince Motor Company then later moved to Nissan . After graduating from Yokohama National University , Sakurai worked for the Shimizu Corporation before he was given the opportunity to work in
25-469: The interior and exterior design. The new car used the platform of the Nissan Leopard and was called Autech Zagato Stelvio AZ1. It was unveiled in 1989, with 203 cars planned to be made (three of which were prototypes). Costs kept increasing during development and in the end 104 units were produced. In December 2021, Nissan said it would merge Autech and sister company Nismo (a motorsport operation) into
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