NEW YORK -- Nissan is embracing racier styling, a Navy jet-inspired cockpit and high-end interior detail to ignite new interest in the redesigned 2016 Maxima sedan.
The company hopes the changes intercept sedan customers who are leaning toward BMW, Acura and other luxury brands.
Unveiling the creation in New York this morning, Nissan rolled out a production car that is barely toned down from the flashy Sport Sedan Concept car that it showed New York show audiences last year.
The ’16 Maxima -- the eighth generation of the nameplate -- shows the same sharply creased side panels as the concept car, a fastback-styled rear window and a snubbed tail end. Its front and rear fenders and quarter panels are deep-draw stamped to give it an accentuated sense of muscularity. The car also comes with a dual panoramic moonroof, diamond-cut 19-inch wheels and leather and suede-like Alcantara interiors.
The car will carry over its 3.5-liter, 24-valve V-6 engine, paired with a redesigned continuously variable transmission to boost acceleration. But 60 percent of the 2016 model’s engine parts are new, including the adoption of the sodium-filled exhaust valves used on Nissan’s GT-R sports car, and the Maxima’s power increases to 300 hp, up from 290 on the outgoing model.
Prices start at $33,235, including shipping.
“Very frankly, it’s hard to conquest customers out of a luxury brand once they’re in it, and that’s not what we’re after with the Maxima” says Vishnu Jayamohan, product manager for the new car. “We plan to reach people who are luxury intenders and stop them in their tracks.”
The Maxima also must buck a general industry trend away from larger sedans, says Kelly Blue Book analyst Akshay Anand.
“Full-size sedan sales have dwarfed considerably during the last few years,” Anand said in an email. “Nissan will have to do something significant to not only start the Maxima off hot, but sustain that momentum.”
Nissan is game, Jayamohan says.
When it goes on sale this summer, the Maxima will have a checklist of new features to capture new attention. Among them:
That 15-minute analysis of each trip will become the car’s baseline to judge how the driver should be handling the car. If handling motions begin to veer outside that norm, the Maxima will assume the driver is getting drowsy -- and the dash light will suggest it’s time to perk up.
