Jump to content

Nissan Almost Sent the Maxima To the Great Parking Lot In the Sky

By William Maley

· 5,881 views

  • The Maxima Could Have Been Killed Off

Nissan is making a big deal about the Maxima at the moment. But a few years back, the automaker was considering to kill the model.

 

Automotive News reports that back in 2012, the industry was in the midsts of recovering from the recession and high gas prices were causing many automakers to work on compacts and smaller vehicles. Nissan was no exception to that trend as they were introducing the new Nissan Leaf and working on a new compact.

 

"A lot of people assume it was a forgone conclusion that, of course we will continue with another Maxima. But frankly, the forgone conclusion at that moment was that there would not be another Maxima," said Pierre Loing, vice president of Nissan's North American product planning.

 

Loing joined Nissan in early January and found himself with a difficult task: How do you convince a company that was focused on compacts and making its platforms more global to build another generation of a model that was only sold in North America? The answer lay in the history of the brand. The Maxima holds the title of the longest-selling nameplate in the U.S. for Nissan (Before anyone says it, the Z is the oldest, but was discontinued for a time), which gives the Maxima a fan base that spreads many generations. Also helping was the Maxima having better name recognition that Nissan itself.

 

Loing's convincing worked. In early 2012, CEO Carlog Ghosn gave the green light for the project and the rest is history.

 

Also check out: 2016 Nissan Maxima First Ride Review

 

 

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

    •

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Newbie

    cp-the-nerd

    New Member

    I think the Maxima is a joke now, and IMO Nissan's current design language is hideous and busy. They're still peddling the Maxima as a performance car (or "4-door sports car") even though it's sold exclusively with a CVT, and the last gen was completely overshadowed by the cheaper, lighter, and faster Altima V6.

     

    If they want to make it relevant, give it a 7-speed dct or 6-speed manual and some legit performance equipment.

  • Quote
    • Newbie

    Thed

    New Member

    I think the Maxima is a joke now, and IMO Nissan's current design language is hideous and busy. They're still peddling the Maxima as a performance car (or "4-door sports car") even though it's sold exclusively with a CVT, and the last gen was completely overshadowed by the cheaper, lighter, and faster Altima V6.

     

    If they want to make it relevant, give it a 7-speed dct or 6-speed manual and some legit performance equipment.

     

    Nothing will be able to touch the Maxima's of a few generations prior. It was pretty light, and you could get the potent VQ 3.5L with a six-speed manual. I remember those things being able to pull hard.

  • Quote
    • Newbie

    cp-the-nerd

    New Member

     

    I think the Maxima is a joke now, and IMO Nissan's current design language is hideous and busy. They're still peddling the Maxima as a performance car (or "4-door sports car") even though it's sold exclusively with a CVT, and the last gen was completely overshadowed by the cheaper, lighter, and faster Altima V6.

     

    If they want to make it relevant, give it a 7-speed dct or 6-speed manual and some legit performance equipment.

     

    Nothing will be able to touch the Maxima's of a few generations prior. It was pretty light, and you could get the potent VQ 3.5L with a six-speed manual. I remember those things being able to pull hard.

     

     

    That's the Maxima everyone knows and loves. Too bad Nissan doesn't understand that.

  • Quote
    • Enthusiast

    William Maley

    Editor

     

     

     

    The Maxima holds the title of the longest-selling nameplate in the U.S. 

    .... for Nissan.

     

     

    Fixed.

  • Quote
    • Agree 1
    Newbie

    SalesmanSean

    New Member

    I think the Maxima is a joke now, and IMO Nissan's current design language is hideous and busy. They're still peddling the Maxima as a performance car (or "4-door sports car") even though it's sold exclusively with a CVT, and the last gen was completely overshadowed by the cheaper, lighter, and faster Altima V6.

     

    If they want to make it relevant, give it a 7-speed dct or 6-speed manual and some legit performance equipment.

    I like the new styling on the Maxima and Murano, but I completely agree that the 4DSC thing is a complete joke, though.  I think the idea of it is great, but the car doesn't fit that idea and they need to fix that.

  • Quote
    • Community Regular

    regfootball

    Members

    its a sports car compared to the cream puff Altima.  The Max is the only car left aside from the Z with any kind of performance image.  And people still love Maximas.  I think they did this new one right, aside from the CVT, because of how different it is than the Altima.  They really should keep a traditional automatic or DCT in the Max.  I was reading FB posts on a post Nissan made about the Maxima and clearly people love Maximas. But what was also funny were how many people were complaining about blown CVT's.....

  • Quote
    • Collaborator

    daves87rs

    Members

    Why this car has a CVT I have no idea.....

     

    Bottom of the front bumper sticks out too much though!

  • Quote
    • Newbie

    SalesmanSean

    New Member

    Why this car has a CVT I have no idea.....

     

    Bottom of the front bumper sticks out too much though!

    Because Nissan has just about given up on anything that isn't a CVT.  With everyone trying different things to get better fuel mileage for CAFE standards, Nissan's biggest push in that direction so far really has been CVT everything.  It has it's good and it's bad points, it isn't horrible for those looking for an appliance, but they need to get their heads out of their rears and realize that if they are going to label something as a sports car it definitely should not be running a CVT.

  • Quote
    • Grand Master

    Drew Dowdell

    Editor-in-Chief

     

    Why this car has a CVT I have no idea.....

     

    Bottom of the front bumper sticks out too much though!

    Because Nissan has just about given up on anything that isn't a CVT.  With everyone trying different things to get better fuel mileage for CAFE standards, Nissan's biggest push in that direction so far really has been CVT everything.  It has it's good and it's bad points, it isn't horrible for those looking for an appliance, but they need to get their heads out of their rears and realize that if they are going to label something as a sports car it definitely should not be running a CVT.

     

     

    Their CVT has been really good at hiding the deficiencies of their 4-cylinder engines in the NVH department. 

  • Quote
    • Agree 2
    Collaborator

    daves87rs

    Members

     

     

    Why this car has a CVT I have no idea.....

     

    Bottom of the front bumper sticks out too much though!

    Because Nissan has just about given up on anything that isn't a CVT.  With everyone trying different things to get better fuel mileage for CAFE standards, Nissan's biggest push in that direction so far really has been CVT everything.  It has it's good and it's bad points, it isn't horrible for those looking for an appliance, but they need to get their heads out of their rears and realize that if they are going to label something as a sports car it definitely should not be running a CVT.

     

     

    Their CVT has been really good at hiding the deficiencies of their 4-cylinder engines in the NVH department. 

     

     

     

    Yeah, that is true.....

  • Quote
    • Community Regular

    regfootball

    Members

     

     

    Why this car has a CVT I have no idea.....

     

    Bottom of the front bumper sticks out too much though!

    Because Nissan has just about given up on anything that isn't a CVT.  With everyone trying different things to get better fuel mileage for CAFE standards, Nissan's biggest push in that direction so far really has been CVT everything.  It has it's good and it's bad points, it isn't horrible for those looking for an appliance, but they need to get their heads out of their rears and realize that if they are going to label something as a sports car it definitely should not be running a CVT.

     

     

    Their CVT has been really good at hiding the deficiencies of their 4-cylinder engines in the NVH department. 

     

    is that how Nissan gets away with their ancient engines too?

  • Quote
    • Newbie

    ocnblu

    Members

    New Maxima is a ghastly creature, so overwrought, like a gargoyle.

  • Quote
    • Grand Master

    Drew Dowdell

    Editor-in-Chief

     

     

     

    Why this car has a CVT I have no idea.....

     

    Bottom of the front bumper sticks out too much though!

    Because Nissan has just about given up on anything that isn't a CVT.  With everyone trying different things to get better fuel mileage for CAFE standards, Nissan's biggest push in that direction so far really has been CVT everything.  It has it's good and it's bad points, it isn't horrible for those looking for an appliance, but they need to get their heads out of their rears and realize that if they are going to label something as a sports car it definitely should not be running a CVT.

     

     

    Their CVT has been really good at hiding the deficiencies of their 4-cylinder engines in the NVH department. 

     

    is that how Nissan gets away with their ancient engines too?

     

     

    To who else are you referring?  The CVT helps to keep the RPM low on their 4-cylinder engines which helps hide the harshness of those engines in the upper rpm range.  The VQ V6es are fine. 

  • Quote
    • Community Regular

    regfootball

    Members

    Well all the other Asian makes are in love with the CVTs now too. The Subaru boxer motor isn't all that creamy. The toyotas are never to write home about. Maybe this is a new tactic for all the Asian cars

  • Quote
    • Newbie

    SalesmanSean

    New Member

    Well all the other Asian makes are in love with the CVTs now too. The Subaru boxer motor isn't all that creamy. The toyotas are never to write home about. Maybe this is a new tactic for all the Asian cars

    Well, Mazda hasn't jumped all over that CVT bandwagon yet, and with them partnering with Toyota to share SkyActiv and hybrid bits back and forth, maybe we can hope that Toyota will find some more fun in their cars again somewhere in the future.

  • Quote
    • Grand Master

    Drew Dowdell

    Editor-in-Chief

    Well all the other Asian makes are in love with the CVTs now too. The Subaru boxer motor isn't all that creamy. The toyotas are never to write home about. Maybe this is a new tactic for all the Asian cars

     

    I would say that all of them are doing it for efficiency reasons... CVT are just about the most efficient transmission possible as long as you can make the difference between the Max and Min ratios wide enough.  I think in Nissan's case, it is letting them keep an old 4-cylinder on the shelf longer. 

     

    Subarus are always going to feel grunty... that's just the nature of the boxer 4.   Boxer 6s are a good bit smoother. 

  • Quote
    • Community Regular

    regfootball

    Members

    Nissan could learn from GM of the past, keep your engines up to date. Let it linger too long, then you have a long ways to catch up later....

  • Quote

    • Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...