Last year Nissan introduced the updated Z car and Sentra SE-R car at the
North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). How could Nissan out-do
itself this year?
In an extraordinary move, Nissan announced pricing for
the new 350Z car nearly 8 months ahead of release when most manufacturers
release pricing 1-2 months ahead. Nissan executives expressed a need to
let Z enthusiasts know as soon as possible to reward them for their
patience in waiting so long for a Z successor since the last Z in 1996.
And we would guess this move and pricing would get a whole heck of a lot
of publicity! Learn more
about the new 350Z here...
Secondly for Nissan, the new Altima won the prestigious North American Car of the Year award.
General Motor’s Chevrolet TrailBlazer was the winner of the Truck of the
Year award. According to the final tally, the Altima handily beat out
the second-place Cadillac CTS by 64 votes. The redesigned Altima received
267 votes, followed by the CTS with 203, the Thunderbird had 160.
"This is a first giant step for us," said Jed
Connelly, head of sales and marketing for Nissan North America.
He added,
"We are pleased with the consumer and media response to the Altima since it hit dealership showrooms in
August." Unsurprising comments, considering last month was Nissan's
best December 2001 ever since 1986. Nissan executives give credit to the
Altima drawing in buyers for every segment who are curious to check
out the new car.
Hard to impress journalists were also impressed with the new Altima.
"The all-new Altima is an impressive blend of fresh design, excellent
interior packaging and ergonomics," Lindsay Brooke, part of a jury of
49 automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada who choose the winners,
told the Associated Press.
Quest Concept Perhaps lost in the smorgasbord of the announcements and introduction
is the new Quest Concept. The model shown will differ quite a bit in
styling from the final production according to sources. However the final
production follows some strong cues from the concept.
Now for a bit of history...back in the early 90s when Nissan teamed up with Ford to
produce the Quest/Mercury Villager, it was one of the best styled and
engineered minivans at the time. However Nissan (and Ford) didn't make the
required investments in keeping up with the Honda Odyssey and Chrysler
minvans. Now that Ford and Nissan are breaking off their minivan marriage,
Nissan knows it needs a better than average minivan. The new Quest adopts
a European almost French look (dare we say Renault-like?). More
Quest information here...
Technology tidbit
Even though you won't see very much coverage of these two code words, we
feel they are worth knowing; FM and SS-L.
FM stands for Nissan's front
mid-ship platform which will power just about every rear wheel (and all wheel drive) sporty car from four door sports sedans
(Infiniti G35) to sports car (including the new Z and GT-R) and even some
cross over SUVs like the new FX45. Click
here to see some of the features of the FM Platform.
As for the SS-L, it is destined to be Nissan's bread and butter platform.
The new Altima already uses it and the new 2004/5 Maxima will too. The replacement
for the new Quest will as well. As time goes on, we'll learn more about
the SS-L platform and share it with you.
Infiniti FX45 Concept
The second generation FX45 Concept, which makes its world debut at the 2002 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, follows
by one year the debut appearance of a similarly named and themed FX45
concept – both described by
Nissan's chief designer, Shiro Nakamura.
He describes the FX45 as “Bionic Cheetahs” for their combined emphasis on sports car performance with SUV utility. The second generation FX45
concept has been completely redesigned inside and out but remains an aggressive,
V-8 powered, all-wheel drive sports luxury design. Interestingly enough, a
Nissan executive said in his speech the new FX45 will be based on the FM
platform of the G35 and new Z car. Up
to date FX45 info here...
Infiniti G35
Infiniti also unveiled the eagerly awaited and stylish new Infiniti G35, the latest addition to its
luxury sedan lineup, at a press conference at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
The rear-wheel drive G35 is powered by an advanced, 260-horsepower V-6 engine mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission with manual shift mode. The G35’s performance is enhanced by a new 4-wheel independent suspension with lightweight aluminum components and highly aerodynamic styling – including a coefficient of drag of just 0.27 and zero degrees of front lift. The G35 is positioned to compete against current popular sport sedans such as the BMW 3-series, Lexus IS300 and Audi A4 2.8.
The G35 sedan as previously mentioned is closely related to the new Z
and scheduled to go on sale at Infiniti retailers nationwide in March 2002 as a 2003 model.
This may give us the best preview of how good the new Z will be
dynamically when driven. Infiniti also officially announced plans for a
G35 coupe which could be even more closely related to the 350Z. More
G35 info...
