Back to the nissan maxima:
My initial impression was that the new front face was a ‘safe’ stepping stone to Nissan’s new front face as shown on the CA designed Forum concept. http://www.leftlanenews.com/nissan-forum-concept.html
But maybe not, after I read the review on conceptcarz:
“Maxima’s new look imparts a strong, premium presence. The large, wraparound L-shaped headlights add a unique dimension to the overall design, while the light surrounds suggest a powerful ‘turbine’ appearance of energy and strength. The upturned headlight shape combines with a wide grille, large bumper opening and bulging ‘catamaran-style’ hood to give Maxima a formidable expression, setting the tone for the rest of the vehicle.”
…well there you have it!
Thanks for the analysis. It is great! I thought the rear was more inspired from the Toyota Camry, which was inspired by the BMW 5 & 7 series. That weird part line gives it away.
A mentor of mine once advised to never design a car in a parking lot. He worked at Nissan before he retired… looks like the designers didn’t heed his advice…
i’ve noticed that here in the u.s., we get split brands. nowhere else are honda/acura, nissan/infiniti, toyota/lexus different companies. this new nissan is making that line between the ‘regular’ brand and the ‘luxury’ brand even thinner. you can see (mostly in the hood i suppose) the similar design strategy used here. interesting? it’s almost like how similar new hondas will look to last-gen acuras (and toyotas to lexuses–lexi?)
Lexus launched it’s brand globally a few years back. The new FX will be sold as an Infiniti around the world. Only Honda is left selling Acuras as Honda in the ROW.
It is quite puzzling when the creators of the Murano and G35 do weird stuff like this. Just as puzzling is how the creators of the Element came up with the nasty new Accord…
You noticed that too ?! Yeah the coupe rear is really nice, but the sedan rear is just as bad as the front (I don’t like the front of either).
Another thing I’ve noticed is that while the new Murano front looks nice (even nicer than the original possibly?), the tail lights and rear in general are so generic compared to the gorgeous wrapping tail lights of the original…
I wondered why, and then I saw the headlights on the new Infiniti EX35 crossover. They might be identical to the new Murano, I’m not sure and am too busy to check.
