‘Focus on electrification’
Although the Nissan Maxima is not sold here, it was still available elsewhere. After more than 40 years, however, the curtain falls for the Maxima, or at least for the Maxima as we know it today.
For decades, the Maxima has been a household name in the Nissan range, especially in the American market. In the US, the Maxima was a resounding success, especially in the 1990s and early this century, with well over 100,000 units sold per year. Nowadays it no longer wants to go smoothly and sales remain below 20,000 on an annual basis. Time to say goodbye, apparently, Nissan thinks. Opposite Caranddriver let Nissan know that it will pull the plug on the Maxima next year.
The first: the Datsun 810 Maxima from 1981
Despite the disappointing sales, it is a quite drastic decision. The Maxima has been holding up for 41 years and eight generations, but after 42 years it is over and out. Production will stop in the middle of next year. Nissan says the decision was made because “the focus is shifting to electric cars”. The Nissan Maxima does not fit into that picture, it has a 3.5 V6 or (the Chinese) a 2.5 four-cylinder, both without electrical support.
Then you would develop a new generation that is (partly) electric, you would say. Well, it is not entirely excluded that Nissan will return to the Maxima after all. Caranddriver learns from the Japanese brand that there may be news about the Maxima in the future. Nissan may eventually put the name on a model again, although that is very likely a fully electric car that has virtually nothing to do with the outgoing Maxima.
In the Netherlands, Nissan sold the Maxima from 1989 to 2003 at a few intervals. The Maxima QX was the last, which lasted until 2003. In total, less than 4,000 Maximas have been sold here, which means that it has always remained a bit of a rarity.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl