Nissan May Be Considering NISMO Maxima

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Nissan may consider building a NISMO variant of its Maxima sedan based on sales of its SR model, The Detroit Bureau is reporting.

Initial sales of the Maxima have been relatively strong so far, and Nissan said it expects 20 percent to 25 percent of its sales to be of the sportier SR model.

A performance version of the Maxima would be welcome news considering the model was nearly killed off four years ago.

According to The Detroit Bureau, a NISMO version of the Maxima may get a horsepower bump — although it’s unclear where the boost would come from. The Maxima currently sports a 3.5-liter V6 and, short of pulling an engine out of thin air, it would likely stay that way.

In reality, the NISMO version may be a more aggressive handling and appearance package for the Maxima, which may help it realize its “four-door sports car” moniker our managing editor Mark Stevenson said it fell short of last month.

Nissan’s NISMO division, a former racing outfit turned into branding mechanism, may expand in coming years to capture enthusiast interest a la BMW’s M division and Mercedes’ AMG group. Currently, Nissan sells NISMO versions of its Juke, 370Z and GT-R — although who wouldn’t like to see the NISMO Leaf in dealerships?

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

More by Aaron Cole

Comments
Join the conversation
6 of 34 comments
  • Tosh Tosh on Jul 12, 2015

    Call me cynical, but isn't it a given that 'Carmaker X' ALWAYS "considers" making a performance version of every single model? And then that hypothetical excitement becomes "welcome news"? I think the kids are calling this 'clickbait'?

  • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Jul 12, 2015

    "capture enthusiast interest a la BMW’s M division and Mercedes’ AMG group. Currently, Nissan sells NISMO versions of its Juke, 370Z and GT-R — although who wouldn’t like to see the NISMO Leaf in dealerships?" Yeah, given the choice I would prefer Maxima NISMO over BMW M and Mercedes AMG and even Tesla. I am on the board.

  • DeadWeight DeadWeight on Jul 13, 2015

    Nissan has turned into a really substandard brand, with awful exterior and interior design, and poor driving dynamics, catering more with each passing year to those who would have bought Hyundais (with the average Hyundai being a better vehicle, $ for $, than its Nissan counterpart) in the past. Nissan is like a bad mashup of Japanese design gone wrong (ala Mitsubishi) with French reliability/durability. What's particularly sad about this is that Nissan once produced very competitive (and compelling) vehicles in many segments - I'm thinking of the 1990 era Maxima and 1990s era Sentra SRS stick. I anxiously await for the Nismo Le Car in the coming years.

    • See 1 previous
    • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Jul 13, 2015

      They aren't using French bits in their cars here, so how are they French in reliability/durability?

  • CincyDavid CincyDavid on Jul 15, 2015

    I owned several Nissans in the 80s and 90s, 3 Sentras and a Stanza...I thought of them as slightly cheaper alternative to Honda and Toyota, but competitive with those brands. Now I see Nissan as more of a Mitsubishi competitor, catering to sub-prime borrowers. Definitely not on my shopping list. That little sliver of black in the c-pillar makes me think of wild eye makeup that some women wear, with a slash of mascara out from their eyelids.

Next