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Cube Mobile Device (higher quality mpg)
27 Comments on “Nissan’s New Ad for Cube Mobile Device Leaked to TTAC...”
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Does that make the xB a Zune?
[Oh, and just for shits & giggles, to anyone who owns a copy of Gran Turismo 4, the Cube is on there. I highly recommend modding the hell out of it and driving it at full volume. It is HILARIOUS. It sounds like pure fury, but when you look at the speedo…you’re only going 75mph. Ha!]
I must be out of vogue, I just can’t keep from throwing up a little when I see it. At least the original xB wasn’t that odd looking.
I’m pretty sure I saw this on the tube a couple of nights ago. No matter, it’s aimed at drivers one-third my age and they can have at it.
I will admit that I drive a Honda Element, but at least the design followed the idea that form followed function. The styling must have originated with a designer enamored with Picasso’s cubist period and then turned over to the ghost of Salvador Dali for final styling, or maybe I’m too old. The thing is hideous.
If they wanted to reflect the reality of likely Cube customers, they should have shown a group of white 40-somethings listening to Prairie Home Companion on the way to the farmer’s market.
I saw that earlier this week in HD, looked awesome!
nearprairie:
It may be aimed at driver’s one-third your age but it’s clearly trying too hard (don’t they all?). This ad reminds me of social networking sites like Facebook. Used properly, that’s fine, but that does not include reling on Facebook to “meet” new people. That’s pathetic. I feel like the guy in the commercial had to rely on his “hip” car for social interaction. No one wants to be that guy.
newfdawg:
The Cube and the Element are fundamentally different, even if they do share the same basic shape. The Cube seems to be targeted towards the young “hip” crowd, like maybe young professionals living in the city who would rather own a automo-computer, if you will, than a car. The Element was aimed at young people who like doing things like camping, hiking, white-water rafting, and other outdoorsy things.
Sorry, that’s been out. I have to wonder if it won’t turn out to be something older people find practical while the young ones see it as trying too hard to be cool.
It’s really kind of retro to me. It’s like something they would have done 40 years ago if they could. Now we can, but I am not sure we should. Maybe it will grow on me.
I liked the Element, but a friend had one and wasn’t happy because the seats weren’t very comfortable, and on the highway it was terrible, which was bad since it should be a great roadtrip car.
I would not buy this car, let’s get that clear first.
Maybe it’s my age (25) but I really liked the ad. It has a “cool” quality that just seems very appropriate to the modern urban environment. And while I agree, form should follow function, one of the functions of a car is to communicate about it’s driver. Wouldn’t you rather see people buying and driving cars like the Cube than the Corolla? Like it or not, ugly or not, at least it’s interesting.
MrDot,
That’s hilarious, and unfortunately true. I’m acquainted with many of those people you describe, though for some reason I never seem to get invited to their wine tastings…
I really think I’m nearly sold on this little bugger. I just wish it got a few more miles per gallon.
I like the wheels there. Pity the car looks like some of my casting projects when they go wrong.
nice choice on the soundtrack
Ding! Lightbulb moment. Now I get it: Wallace and Gromit. The Cube looks like it rolled off of one of their set pieces.
Mr. Dot –
If this car is anything like the xB1 (and they have followed the recipe to the letter thus far), it’ll be incredibly polarizing. Everyone I know with a toastercar is either in their 20’s or their 80’s.
I’m inclined to believe this will be the same way. Every 40-something I’ve seen react to this car has said something along the lines of “What is that? Is that a CAR?”
Scion’s successor to their boxy endeavor, however, has won over a more Boomer-esque crowd. A typical review will read “GREAT car! it’s a perfect replacement for the Explorer now that both the kids are out of school!” Brand fail.
I haven’t gotten a chance to drive it, but the packaging is brilliant. I’m just a pinch under 6’8″, and I can sit behind myself in this car, which is something I’d be pressed to do anything that isn’t a minivan (and even in some minivans it’s a issue) or large crossover.
Where it wins out over the Element (and is a lot like the old xB) is the use of interior space. The dash is pushed very, very far from the driver’s knees, which is a huge help for the tall. The doors are similarly large, the roof very high and the floor very low. Not a cube of space is wasted.
The detailing is odd (but interesting, especially inside—check the ripple effect lighting), especially the asymmetry of the rear window. Asymmetry is almost unheard of in automotive design, and I think that this, along with the shape, is what bugs purists. But the attention to detail is strong, even if it’s coming out of left-field.
Am I buying this thing? I doubt it.
I’m a lil too old (29) and it’s a lil too slow.
But in a sea of me-too bleah, at least this thing says something. The Fit is probably a better car, but it has a personality from the ads, not from the car.
If I was in the price range (18K-ish as tested), I’d spring a lil more and get a Speed3.
Re: nearprairie:
“I’m pretty sure I saw this on the tube a couple of nights ago. No matter, it’s aimed at drivers one-third my age and they can have at it.”
Well, if this ends up with the same buyers as the xB then that would make you roughly 210 years old.
This thing is way cooler than the rolling rave known as the xB.
I don’t think you can consider it ‘leaked’ when it got heavy airplay during the most recent episode of ‘Heroes’
While I doubt many potential customers will notice this, it is a bit unfortunate that Nissan choose to use an ad where a vehicle moves around without being driven to promote a vehicle that is reportedly not that great to drive.
why does it matter what it drives like?
clearly how it drives is the very last thing on the minds of its designers and customers
i fear i am not trendy enough to pull off a scion or soul or a cube
i think these things are fine in japan which is what they were designed for but to me it seems like a massive triumph of advertising over substance that a scion xb can be so popular in the us… now kia and nissan want a piece of the action
and at the same time we see a demise of the small wagon… except for the hyundai elantra sportwagon and the european kia ceed and perhaps the jetta wagon
now is a wagon a much more daggier prospect?
@ no_slushbox: 210, 211, whatever it takes.
I own a first gen Scion Xb and like many, was very disappointed in the second model.
The styling of this (US) Cube isn’t as well done as its JDM predecessor, but like the first gen Xb, the packaging is spot on. No matter the age group, I think that there’s a big place in the market for a small but very roomy city runabout.
The Fit is a far superior vehicle, but the Cube will give it and the Soul some direct competition. The new Xb and the Element, not so much.
Six years on, apart from side air-bags, I have yet to see one of these vehicles really offer any improvement on the formula of the original Xb.
“triumph of advertising over substance”
Hmm really? I am remodeling one of my houses that I rent out. I was able to put in my 1st gen Xb a fully assembled 48 inch Vanity. I regularly put in 8 ft long two by fours. 80,000 trouble free miles in 3 years and a consistent 31 MPG over those 80,000 miles.
Unbelievable utility, light weight 2300 lbs, fun to drive, good mileage, durable, dependable, cheap to buy at 14000 dollars
what the hell is not of substance?
The Fit is a far superior vehicle
For certain things The Fit is also a much smaller vehicle, especially inside. It’s brilliantly packaged, but it’s also quite small.
Having seen the Cube and Soul, the Cube is definitely the better-packaged of the two. The Soul has the unfortunately-tall floor of a crossover; the Cube is near the xB.
Looks like a plastic ice cream truck. No thanks. Cool song though.
I checked out the Cube and the Soul at the auto show last weekend. As the guardian of two medium sized dogs I am forced to evaluate every potential vehicle in terms of how well they can be accommodated. I found that the Cube, with its uneven floor with the rear seats folded, was much less suitable than the Soul.
Since I’m not terrible tall (5’11”) and not terribly wide (170lb) I have come to the conclusion that the Fit is just about the perfect vehicle of this particular trio.
That said, a used dealer has an Audi A3 on the lot for not much more than a new Fit Sport…