What's the point of the Nissan Maxima?

[gasoline]

Against which vehicles does this car compete?

Sentra/Civic/Corolla

Altima/Accord/Camry

Maxima/What?/What?

It's just "out there" in the market, and I confuse it and the Altima up all the time (Altima? Maxima? Allegra? Boniva?)

No, but seriously...

[Jawad]

For this generation, its much more refined then the current Altima, though not much else.  Its suppose to compete against full size cars, or atleast that it should be doing for the next generation.  But I just wonder how anyone can mix the two up.  Yes there are similarities, but either you just dont like Nissan or you need glasses.

[El Barto]

Thats a good question.  When they built mine it was Maxima/Accord/Camry.  The closest car I can think of would be the Avalon.

[ifcar]

Against which vehicles does this car compete?

Sentra/Civic/Corolla

Altima/Accord/Camry

Maxima/What?/What?

It's just "out there" in the market, and I confuse it and the Altima up all the time (Altima? Maxima? Allegra? Boniva?)

No, but seriously...

Avalon, Impala, Five Hundred, LaCrosse, Azera, 300/Charger? The Passat is also pretty close, even if it doesn't match up against the lineup.

It's just an upscale large-midsize sedan.

[TBR]

The problem is that the Altima actually has more interior space!

[afty]

Back in the day, Camry and Accord were smaller and less fancy cars.  They didn't offer V6s and were about the same size as today's Corolla and Civic.  Nissan sold the Stanza, which became the Altima, to compete with them.  At that time, both Nissan and Toyota offered sedans with 6-cylinder engines that were above these cars -- the Cressida and the Maxima.  Cressida died and was later revived as the Avalon.  Maxima did very well and continued in the same market.

Over time, the Camry and Accord moved upscale.  They grew in size to match the Maxima, and they offered option V6s.  Altima was outclassed by these cars, and Maxima lost its primary advantages of size and V6 power.  So in 2002, Nissan upsized the Altima to compete directly with Camry and Accord.  Now Altima was slightly larger than these two cars, and it offered a big V6.  It sold amazingly well, more than doubling the sales of the previous generation.

But now Altima overlapped with Maxima and stole sales from its big brother.  I for one know that if the '02 Altima had not come out, I would be driving an '02 Maxima instead.  Nissan redesigned the Maxima for '04, but IMO did not separate it enough from the Altima.  It is not luxurious enough to compete with the Avalon and Lucerne, and it is not as sporty as either the Altima or the G35.  Nissan needs to think hard about what they want to do with the Maxima in '09.  I think they need to abandon the old "4-door sports car" image and push full-out for luxury.  Maybe give it AWD to separate it from the new Altima.

[TBR]

The problem is that full out luxury wouldn't fit in with the Nissan brand. I would like to see them make sort of a budget M35 out of it.

[280Z Turbo]

I think the Datsun Maxima (810) was originally supposed to be a some sort of affordable semi-sporty sedan with its 2.4L Z-car based motor, independent suspension, and RWD.

Check this out for some in depth answers:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=104713

[ifcar]

The problem is that the Altima actually has more interior space!

The Malibu rear seat is at least as comfortable as the Impala's, the G6's is better than the Grand Prix.

[TBR]

Well that's GM for you...

[Raza]

The problem is that the Altima actually has more interior space!

The bigger problem is that the Maxima is a crap car and a shame to its lineage.

[ifcar]

Well that's GM for you...

My point is that it's not just Nissan. And both of the Nissans are roomy enough that it doesn't matter, unlike the GMs.

[MX793]

The Malibu rear seat is at least as comfortable as the Impala's, the G6's is better than the Grand Prix.

I suspect some of that is due to the Malibu and G6 riding on much much newer platforms with better space efficiency than the Impala and GP.  Hopefully the rear seat space in the larger cars will be improved when GM finally moves them off the old W platform.

[ifcar]

If their replacements are style-focused RWD cars, I can't say I picture space efficiency improving substantially.