How and why Nissan nearly killed off Infiniti

[Eye of the Tiger]

I was actually looking at some Nissin 4-piston calipers for the Harley, but it turns out they are too big and will hit the spokes.

[MX793]

According to Wiki, the new Cima is a LWB version of the Fuga Hybrid.  Why would the rename it for the LWB version?  Beats me.  But this is the same company that sold the Gloria and Cedric simultaneously in the Japanese market and the only visual difference between those two was the grille.

[Yawn]

Thats true.. I remember the Cima and President were the same as well.. Just alittle tweaking. Though on Wiki it said the President was replaced by the Fuga but I thought the Fuga replaced the Cedric/ Gloria..

[MX793]

Thats true.. I remember the Cima and President were the same as well.. Just alittle tweaking. Though on Wiki it said the President was replaced by the Fuga but I thought the Fuga replaced the Cedric/ Gloria..

I think all of Nissan's full-size cars were replaced by the Fuga.

[Submariner]

According to Wiki, the new Cima is a LWB version of the Fuga Hybrid.  Why would the rename it for the LWB version?  Beats me.  But this is the same company that sold the Gloria and Cedric simultaneously in the Japanese market and the only visual difference between those two was the grille.

If you go to 5:50 in the video Yawn posted there is a good profile shot.  It looks just like what it is - a LWB Cima.

One of the problems with the old Q is that the rear seat was tiny compared to it's LWB rivals.  This looks better in that regard, but the M's interior isn't all that impressive especially when compared with the executive saloon competition.  Any word on the cost? 

[Yawn]

The price of the Cima on Nissan's site is 7.4 million yen which is about 80k USD.  The Fuga Hybrid is 5.4 million yen and Fuga starts at 4.0 million yen. The price increase is very significant

[Colin]

As far as I understand it, the reason why the Japanese marques have a seemingly unfathomable array of very similar cars is because they have a complex set of dealers who need a range of cars each to sell, so they spin off subtle variations of the same basic design - seems quite odd, as that was the undoing of BMC/BL in the UK, and GM in the US, where they ended up competing against each other rather than the real opposition, but for some reason it seems to work in Japan.   

[Yawn]

The Japan Car culture society in the 70's through early 2000's seemed to drop off significantly with the rise of micro cars. Many models that were around for 30-40 years are no longer around.. i wouldnt be surprised if 30-50% of the models that were around in Japan in the 90s are no longer around. Globalization??

Youtube has these links for japanese car commercial in the 80's...You see some great originals and just the mass of different models.. Also from Mercedes and BMW.. Another link has the Audi Quattro..

懐かし車CM集1985

[cawimmer430]

Nissan Auster..."Europe Tuned Suspension"... 

Those commercials were awesome. I loved the funky music in that Nissan March Turbo commercial. Who misses the '80s here? 

[TurboDan]

Nissan Auster..."Europe Tuned Suspension"... 

Those commercials were awesome. I loved the funky music in that Nissan March Turbo commercial. Who misses the '80s here? 

When Lexus debuted the SC430, they did the whole "European tuned" thing and even produced the entire USA television ad campaign in French.

Dodge did the same with the latest Durango. Basically all the commercials showed it driving through little roads in the German countryside.

[cawimmer430]

When Lexus debuted the SC430, they did the whole "European tuned" thing and even produced the entire USA television ad campaign in French.

Dodge did the same with the latest Durango. Basically all the commercials showed it driving through little roads in the German countryside.

I see Dodge Durangos all the time here hanging with BMW 3er's in the corners. No big deal at all.

[Tave]

I cringe everytime I get stuck behind a Q-ship in traffic. That is one huge monster.

[Raza]

That's why I wouldn't have bought a Maxima over a G20. Not everybody wants a huge car.

Most people do though.

[Raza]

I cringe everytime I get stuck behind a Q-ship in traffic. That is one huge monster.

A Q or QX?

[dazzleman]

I am going to test drive an Infiniti as part of my car search.  I want to get a sense of where it shakes out in comparison with BMW and Audi.