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Nissan Explains Its Standard for New-Car Smell, Introduces Company' Nose

Ever heard of an odor evaluation team? Well, you have now, as Nissan introduces the company's odor evaluation lead engineer, Peter Karl Eastland. He is referred to as the company “nose,” which means that he is one of the people responsible for the scent of new cars from Nissan.
Peter Karl Eastland, Nissan Odor Evaluation Lead Engineer, smells the steering wheel of a Nissan Qashqai 8 photos
Photo: Nissan
Peter Karl Eastland, Nissan Odor Evaluation Lead Engineer, smells the new Nissan QashqaiPeter Karl Eastland, Nissan Odor Evaluation Lead Engineer, smells the new Nissan QashqaiPeter Karl Eastland, Nissan Odor Evaluation Lead Engineer, smells the new Nissan QashqaiPeter Karl Eastland, Nissan Odor Evaluation Lead EngineerPeter Karl Eastland, Nissan Odor Evaluation Lead EngineerPeter Karl Eastland, Nissan Odor Evaluation Lead EngineerPeter Karl Eastland, Nissan Odor Evaluation Lead Engineer
Yes, the new car smell that many have referred to is something that is engineered these days. Nissan, for example, goes through a complex process to make sure that the new vehicles will have an adequate smell.

What is adequate and what is not is decided by designated people within each automaker. In the case of Nissan, Peter Karl Eastland is the person who decides what new cars will smell like and what should be changed to make that happen.

In the case of the ongoing generation of the Nissan Qashqai, the Japanese brand wanted to ensure a premium ambiance on-board. Peter Eastland's degree in Chemistry with Forensic Science came in handy, but his extremely acute sense of smell also played an immeasurable role. Nissan's lead engineer for odor evaluation claims he discovered his gift at an early age.

Perfume companies were the first to hire people who were gifted with an extraordinary sense of smell. Automakers figured out that customer experience also involves odor, so they were among many companies that turned to employ people with this skill.

While the traditional scent of a new car was a direct result of the manufacturing process, the current smell of a new car these days is something that is determined in the preliminary stages of the vehicle's development.

Nissan explains that everything inside the vehicle must be analyzed to ensure that a fabric, polymers hidden under it, or the adhesives employed onboard do not generate an unpleasant odor. The check is carried out at various temperatures and the process is repeated with every design change.

In other words, if Nissan decides to change the fabric onboard their vehicles, at least one of the company's odor evaluation specialists will have to give it a “sniff.” Nissan also explained that there is a global Nissan standard for scent and all odor evaluation specialists in the company's centers know exactly what that smells like.

Nissan has technical centers in Europe, Japan and the USA. The one in Europe is located in the United Kingdom, where Peter Eastland operates, while the one in Japan is in Atsugi. Nissan's technical center in the U.S. is in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Each of these facilities has at least one odor evaluation specialist and now you know what this job title actually means.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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