MrFatbooty

These spy photos reveal what appears to be a new large sedan destined for Nissan's model-range - essentially a competitor for the Toyota Avalon - testing in the Southwest desert. This prototype is clearly based on the Japanese-market Nissan Teana, a large sedan that slots in just below the Nissan Fuga in Japan (the U.S. version of the Fuga is the Infiniti M35/M45).

The key here is that this prototype is left-hand drive (LHD). The Teana is only available in right-hand drive for the Japanese market, and its interior is an old-school design that has some older Buick overtones. This prototype has been changed to LHD, making it suitable for the U.S. market, and our interior shot shows that its dashboard has been redesigned to resemble the current models in Nissan's U.S. lineup.

This Teana-based prototype retains the Japanese-model's quirky styling, which combines the side-window design from the Infiniti M35/M45 with a Maxima-like front fascia and a rear end that mimics BMW's rump-hump found on the new 5- and 7-Series.

Judging from the extensive repackaging of the interior to left-hand drive, it appears that this car is being readied for the U.S. market. So why create such a car to slot in above the Maxima? Toyota has adopted a similar strategy with its Avalon, and it appears that Nissan is attempting a similar attack - adapting an up-market (Infiniti) platform to get a piece of the large, near-luxury-cruiser market.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/inde...8&article=8969

I'd like to correct this article a bit. The Teana is a front wheel drive car built on the same platform as the Altima and Maxima. In Australia, they even call the Teana the Maxima. I don't think it's much bigger of a car than the Maxima on the outside but it has more efficient interior packaging.

This whole idea seems rather confusing to me. It used to be that a Maxima was a bit bigger than a Camry or Accord and an Altima was a bit smaller than those cars. But now the Camry and Accord have gotten all big, and so has the Altima. The Maxima isn't really all that much bigger than the Altima.

Perhaps because the Altima SE-R essentially does the Maxima's job plenty fine, and Nissan wants to compete more directly against the likes of the Avalon, Ford Five Hundred, Chrysler 300, whatever, they're bringing the Teana over to replace the Maxima. In Australia, the Teana is actually sold as the Maxima. Check it out. So who knows why Nissan is converting the Teana over to left-hand drive now. Certainly is odd.

asianautica

But my question is, why would they replace the Maxima name that's been around for so long in the US with the Teana name that's unknown. It would make more sense to make the Maxima bigger and more luxurious but a little softer to compete directly with the Avalon but not interfere w/ the G35.

98CoupeV6

Yes, we need more big FWD Nissans

MtViewGuy88

We could see the Nissan Teana possibly built in the USA, too.

You see, Toyota hit a major home run with the current Avalon, a car that Buick or Cadillac wished it could offer to their customers. Larger than the Camry, the car has an amazing amount of interior space and trunk space and has surprisingly good performance with quite good fuel economy; the Avalon is a hot seller among the aging Baby Boomer crowd.

As such, what I think Nissan will phase out the Maxima and will aim the V-6 Altima models to the enthusiast driver. They will use the larger Teana model (which may take over the Maxima model designation) to directly compete against the successful Avalon model.

tnivana

owner loyalty among maxima owners is incredibly high, so replacing it with some unknown name would really hurt the brand, even if it is essentially a restyled maxima with a softer ride. the maxima name is to nissan what legend was to acura, and i really dont think the company is stupid enough to make a mistake like that. this is sort of a confusing. i'd like to think if they went in this direction they would just turn the maxima into a true sport sedan like it was always meant to be, which would actually mean downsizing it. i'd love to see them add awd, too.

reech-around

cant they think of a new interior design? :rofl:

mayonaise

that looks like the current teana in japan, unless they're just using the old sheet metal for testing purposes.. the interior is much different, though
http://www.nissanfanseite.de/Nissan-...san_teana.html

socalprelude

The front reminds me too much of the ford 500, and the rear is just ugly. The interior looks just like the altima's. I also agree it would be a bad move for Nissan to get rid of the Maxima name, as its owner loyalty is one of the highest in the industry.

reech-around

yeah you've gotta be pretty loyal to buy a maxima these days :chuckles:

ok ok no more nissan jabs today h:

JGordon

If anything, I would guess that they bring the Teanna over and simply tout it as the new Maxima. I don't think that they would want to lose out on the Maxima name-recognition, but the current Maxima is too similar in size and power to the Altima, and has been losing a lot of sales because of that. The styling certainly looks like an evolution/derivative of the Maxima anyway. The Maxima may lose some of it's sport-sedan trappings when it goes bigger and softer, but it's old position was usurped by the Altima several years ago.