Nissan Maxima Shows Hints Of New Qashqai Styling With Digital Revival

Produced in eight versions between 1980 and 2023, the Nissan Maxima was previously available under the Datsun brand. The Maxima, which debuted in 1984 as a rear-wheel drive sedan and station wagon, moved to front-wheel drive for the 1985 model year.

It took until 1986 for Nissan to sell more than 100,000 units of the second-generation sedan in the US. In this region of the world, 1994 was the highest sales year for the nameplate, with 163,138 units sold. That year also saw the release of Jeff Buckley’s Grace, Green Day’s Dookie, Pantera’s Far Beyond Driven, and The Offspring’s Smash.

Undoubtedly, 1994 was a great year for music. In the grand scheme of things, this decade also signaled the beginning of the end for sedans in America. The decline was gradual but persistent, with a slight acceleration after the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the implementation of the Car Allowance Rebate System (often known as Cash for Clunkers).

Delivery numbers of the Maxima fell from 67,627 to 42,337 in 2018, making the writing on the wall clear. Nissan, a business based in Yokohama, decided to drop its flagship sedan after the 2023 model year because the company sells far more crossovers than normal cars and trucks. However, what if the ninth generation presented itself and gave the Maxima another chance?

Now, for Digimods Design, whose most recent Pixel creation is a hybrid of Lexus and Nissan. The Nissan component is particularly visible at the front, with lights and radiator grille resembling the Qashqai, while the Lexus component can be instantly recognized by its rear lights and mirror caps. Consider the Qashqai a small, front-biased crossover similar to the Rogue Sport for Europe.

Two months ago, Nissan unveiled the facelifted Qashqai. The exterior design of the new model was inspired by the Ariya electric utility vehicle. The Qashqai has e-Power, which is a trick up its sleeve, although it’s hard to call it pretty. This is Nissan parlance in which the internal combustion engine acts as a generator for the electric motor via a lithium-ion battery. Because of this, the Qashqai e-Power’s generator is its sole propulsion source, making it a very attractive alternative to traditional battery-electric cars.

Bringing our attention back to the Maxima, adopting design ideas from e-Power and Qashqai won’t be nearly enough to revive the huge sedan. Do you remember the Avalon? Toyota had to discontinue it after the 2022 model year due to declining sales, but unlike Nissan, the largest Japanese automaker has an indirect replacement for its huge sedan. The Crown is that replacement, and it’s only available as a hybrid.

This all-hybrid strategy also applies to the Camry, which is still selling well alongside Honda’s iconic Accord. In the U.S. last year, the midsize sold 290,649 and 197,947 units, compared with 200,381 for the Civic, 232,370 for the Corolla, and nearly 232,700 for the Tesla Model 3.