· Innovative sports car proportions, head-turning style create a mid-size sedan like no other on the road today
· Based on the Nissan Sport Sedan Concept, new Maxima resets "4-Door Sports Car" legacy
· Exterior's sweeping powerful body gestures and crisp, aggressive, sculpted forms create premium exotic feel
· Exotic and intelligent interior design allows driver to indulge in a cockpit with high-tech feel and precision craftsmanship
NEW YORK (April 2, 2015) – The goal was simple: Create a high performance, top-end sedan for the Nissan brand. As the flagship sedan in Nissan's product lineup, Maxima has long had a loyal following of owners who appreciate its unique combination of sports car style with premium elegance. For the new Maxima, Nissan's global design team was tasked with a challenge to bring to market inspired design elements, inside and out, that impress and captivate at the first glance.
"The New Maxima is another concept-based production vehicle following the 2015 Nissan Murano crossover, which debuted here last year," said Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. "The bar was set even higher for the team to achieve our brand promise through design."
Designers went all out with sheer excitement. They quickly filled image boards on the studio walls with keywords and inspirational images. Phrases like "passionate exotic" and "brutal yet sophisticated" appeared. Photos of stealth jets, aviator helmets, speedboats, and high-style products like furniture, shoes and watches soon followed. Other images, like classic exotics from an era of bespoke interiors, handcrafted leather seats, tailored instrument design and premium surfacing, also joined the walls.
As they developed sketch themes, built design prototypes and brought the project all way to production design data release, the designers kept reminding themselves to surprise people, create excitement for the senses, be aggressive, and always a question in mind: "Is it worthy of the Maxima name?"
"Ultimately, history will decide where the new design fits in the legacy of the previous seven generations of Maximas that have gone before," said Mamoru Aoki, Executive Design Director, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. "But one thing is certain, there will be no mistaking the 2016 Maxima for any other 'mid-size sedan-plus' in the segment."
