Nissan shows a glimpse of new Maxima

Nissan has flashed images of what is believed to be its next-generation Maxima at its 360 event in the USA this week.

The concept car, which is slated for debut at the 2014 Detroit motor show in January, shows what Nissan’s Senior Vice-President and Chief Creative Officer of Design and Brand Management, Shiro Nakamura, says boasts a "very strong design signature" that indicates the brand’s "future design direction".

US publication Autoblog reported that the sleek concept model hints strongly at a replacement for Nissan’s current large sedan flagship, the Maxima, and boasts stylistic elements not dissimilar to those on the current Sentra (aka Pulsar).

Nissan has said previously that the Maxima is due to be replaced in time for a 2015 launch, which makes those assumptions feasible.

A source within Nissan told motoring.com.au that the images could be a "deliberate teaser" released "just to see what the press would say", and that no official communication from within the company points to anything more substantial at this point in time.

The current J32-series Maxima has been on sale locally since 2009. Its sales have slackened in recent times and last month the Maxima found just 90 buyers, with year-to-date registrations of just 617.

Compared to its local large-car rivals, the result shows Nissan could indeed do with a little stimulus. For example, Toyota sold 604 Aurions in July and the Holden Commodore found 2827 new homes.

VFACTS also considers the Ford Falcon (594 sales), Peugeot 508 (36) and Skoda Superb (30) as direct competitors for the Maxima.

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