Nissan’s new 2009 Sentra FE+ 2.0 SR

Car manufacturers have seen their sales fall at a dramatic rate so need to look closely at what their customers really need. Nissan (7201) hopes that they have done just that with the new 2009 Sentra FE+ 2.0 SR. If you were to glance at the new SR, it looks just like a high-spec SE-R. Read more

Nissan concept Qazana saves UK car jobs

It is nice to learn of some good news in the car industry, it is expected that about 1,100 jobs will be safe at Wearside, as that is where the production of Nissan’s five-door concept, the Qazana will take place, which is being unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. Read more

2010 Nissan Cube: U.S. spec photos

Nissan have decided to treat us to a few official photos of their U.S. spec version of the 2010 Nissan Cube. This is the latest version of the box like vehicle, which has been doing very well in the Japanese market since 1998. Read more

2009 Nissan 370Z

The upcoming 2009 Nissan 370Z was on show at Southern California, and the first impressions of the vehicle were much the same as they were when the first pictures leaked on the Internet, amazed. The new 2009 Nissan 370Z certainly has a lot in common with older Z cars, which is what Nissan went for. Read more

2010 Nissan 370Z: real pictures, no renders

Nissan having been teasing us for over a year with teaser shots renders as well as rumors of their 2010 Nissan 370Z. It is finally nice to see some official photos of the new coupe, instead of computer generated images as well as screen captures. Read more

2009 Nissan 370Z coupe review

So far all we have seen of the new 2009 Nissan 370Z coupe are a few spy shots and mock-ups in car mags, but we now have a lot more information on the successor to the Nissan 350Z. This short review gives you all the latest details on the new coupe. Read more

Nissan to recall over 200,000 vehicles: airbag deployment problem

Nissan have now got to implement the recall of 204,361 vehicles, which are from their 2007 and 2008 range. The vehicles are the ones sold in the United States, which are thought to have a problem with an airbag. Read more

Nissan Technology Square: driving meets innovation

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and PT. Nissan Motor Indonesia will present the “NISSAN TECHNOLOGY SQUARE” event at the Kelapa Gading Mall in Jakarta, Indonesia. The public automotive technologies showcase opens today and runs through August 25.

Indonesia is the second market where we hold this event. After completing its run in Indonesia, the Nissan Technology Square will visit several cities in multiple markets, including Singapore, Malaysia and India, etc Read more

Nissan’s new electric car and hybrid

This is a test version of Nissan’s new electric car and it’s in the popular Nissan Cube design. Business Week was able to test drive both the new electric and hybrid near Tokyo.

They found the electric Cube nimble and quick on the test track but the batteries are under the rear seats and weigh around 300kg.This made the rear seats higher than they should be and gave passengers a more uncomfortable ride.

Nissan’s electric car is due to launch in 2010, in the United States and Japan. Nissan say that the car will be different to any current model and their lithium-ion batteries offer significantly improved performance and are half the weight.

Nissan hope that the improved performance over current nickel metal hydride cells will help make them the leader in hybrids and electric vehicles.

The new Nissan hybrid answers many questions but it also raises many questions as well, read the hands-on review from Business Week here.

You can read other news about hybrid cars here.

Nissan’s Darren Lobb Third in South Africa Off-road Championship

Former national champion Hannes Grobler and co-driver Juan Mohr were convincing winners of the production vehicle category of the Sun City 400 on Saturday in their Sasol-supported Nissan Navara to give Nissan Motorsport its second successive victory in the event.

It was their first win together since teaming up at the start of the season and, while it was the veteran Grobler’s 24th victory in the past seven and a half seasons, it was Mohr’s first time on the top step of the podium in the production vehicle category of the Absa Off Road Car Championship. Read more

Nissan Production announces sales and export results

Nissan Motor Co.,Ltd., today announced its production, sales and export results for June 2008 and for the first half of calendar year 2008 (January-June period).

Production June
Nissan’s global production grew 12.3% year-on-year to 309,688 units. Export models from Japan such as the Rogue, Murano, X-Trail and the new Teana boosted domestic production to 118,771 units, exceeding the previous year by 33.3%. Read more

X-TRAIL fuel cell does Nürburgring in under 12 minutes

Lap runs on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany’s Eifel region are often cancelled due to rain. But the wet weather didn’t stop Nissan from taking its X-TRAIL fuel cell vehicle for a spin on the course recently, making Nissan the first automaker to record an FCV lap on the famous race track. Read more

Beijing’s New Nissan Teana with STAR WINGS

Beijing Transportation Information Center (BTIC) and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. announced today the first commercial application of the STAR WINGS project. The new Nissan Teana sedan offers a smart route-guidance navigation system as a standard feature on the 3.5L model and as an optional feature on the 2.5L model for customers in Beijing.

This navigation system enables the driver to avoid congested roads by plotting the shortest possible route to a destination based on real time probe date collected from Beijing taxis Read more

Nissan to Showcase X-TRAIL Diesel Prototype at 2008 G8 Summit

Clean diesel technology is something that we must have if we want to help the environment and its great to see auto brands embracing this technology, today we are hearing that Nissan is to Showcase the new X-TRAIL Diesel Prototype at 2008 G8 Summit and you can read the full details in the press release below.

TOKYO (June 9, 2008) – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that it will showcase the X-TRAIL diesel prototype at the 2008 Integrated Exhibition of the Environment in Hokkaido*1 (June 19-21) as well at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit’s International Media Center (July 7-9). Nissan’s participation supports the focus on environmental issues at the G8 Summit meetings.

Japan is slated to introduce its new emission regulatory standards, referred to as ‘‘Post New Long-term Regulations’’, by October, 2009*2. Ahead of its implementation, Nissan plans to introduce the X-TRAIL diesel in September this year, which will meet with the more stringent standards.

The G8 Summit offers an ideal platform for Nissan to showcase its latest clean diesel technology, as delegates and members of the media will have the opportunity to test drive the product and see related technology exhibits.

Based on the M9R diesel engine co-developed with Alliance-partner Renault, the Nissan version on the X-TRAIL employs advanced technologies to deliver high torque and powerful acceleration, in addition to improved fuel-economy while meeting the demands for cleaner emission standards globally.

The clean diesel technology incorporated include:

• Piezo-electric-controlled injectors
• Commonrail system (1600 bar)
• Variable nozzle turbos
• Diesel particulate filters (DPF)
• Lean NOx-trap catalysts
• Sophisiticated control-system for precise modulation of the DPF and catalysts in tandem with the driving conditions

Under the Nissan Green Program 2010 mid-term environmental plan, the company aims to introduce new technologies, products and services that can lead to real-world reductions in vehicle CO2 emissions.

*1 2008 Integrated Exhibition of the Environment is part of a series of events related to the Hokkaido Toyako Summit
Dates: June 19-21 Venue: Sapporo Dome (1 Hitsujigaoka, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo-shi)
The exhibition will focus on the latest environmental products and technologies, and will feature forums from leading environmental experts, seminars and workshops with environmental groups, corporations, universities and research institutions. See do-summit.jp/kankyouten2008/

*2 The new emission regulatory standards will apply to all new vehicles starting from October of 2009, and all replacement / imported models from September, 2010.

Renault, Nissan New Plant in India: 400,000 Passenger Vehicles Annually

It looks like Renault Nissan Automotive in India will be pumping out a lot more vehicles as they have started the ground breaking ceremony of their new plant. Read the full details in the press release below.

CHENNAI (June 6, 2008) – Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Limited (RNAIPL) today hosted the ground-breaking ceremony for its new passenger vehicle plant in Chennai, India, expected to begin operations in 2010. The facility will have an annual production capacity of 400,000 and will produce vehicles for export and the local market for both Renault and Nissan.

A 50:50 joint venture between Renault and Nissan to manufacture passenger vehicles, RNAIPL represents an investment of a minimum of Rs 4,500 crore (€780 million / U.S. $1.1 billion).

“This is an important day in Chennai for Renault, Nissan, our local employees and the community,” said Shohei Kimura, managing director of RNAIPL. “The new project is a very tangible result of the strength and success of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, and is a clear indicator of RNAIPL’s long-term strategy for this important market.”

Renault plans to produce several cars on the Logan platform and on other platforms as well. Building on the success of Logan, Renault is currently developing a product range to best match Indian customers’ needs, tastes and dreams.

Nissan will produce a family of models based on its new A-platform, including the next generation of Micra. India is one of the five leading competitive countries (LCCs) to produce the new A-platform models. The development of a competitive A-platform is one of several business breakthroughs announced as part of Nissan GT 2012, the company’s new five-year business plan.

2009 Nissan Maxima: Most improved car almost did not happen

We all know that the most improved car is the 2009 Nissan Maxima, but what you do not know is that this car almost did not happen. If that would have happened we would have been deprived of a truly remarkable car, with its seductive shape and its superb performance. Nissan was originally just going to modify their existing Maxima sedan by just introducing a few upgrades, we just have to be thankful at some stage in the thinking process the designers stood up and come up with what we see today.

The thing is the Nissan Maxima is their flagship car, so they always need to do something special when bringing out a new model, and I have to say the 2009 model has certainly hit that sweet spot. Nissan designers have drawn a lot of inspiration from the forthcoming GT-R supercar when they developed the 2009 Nissan Maxima, those guys really did a great job and they started with a blank screen, which seems to have worked for Nissan with this new model.

The older Maxima just looked like a plumed-up Altima however; this new 2009 model now looks like a premium vehicle, although one drawback is that it is still a front-wheel drive, oh well Nissan can’t get everything perfect.

For full details on the 2009 Nissan Maxima visit: The Windsor Star

Beijing 2008 update: Nissan shows off Teana and XV

It was late last year at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show when Nissan decided to show of their new Intima concept. The concept was large in size and was a front wheel drive, and if you can remember that far back you will see that it was going to become the new Teana as well as the Teana XV which is a luxury version of the vehicle.

The Intima concept really does show up in many areas of the new Nissan Teana, like the huge amount of glass being used as well as its windswept front fascia and the cool looking kink at the bottom of the C-pillar. There are a couple of things that Nissan decided to leave out that I think would have looked perfect on the Teana, like the LED headlamps and the flush grille, oh well we can’t have everything.

The engine that will be used to power the two different Teana models will be a 3.5L VQ V6 engine, although they do have some smaller engines the 2.0 and 2.5L, both are four-cylinders which does lack a bit of refinement. If you do get a little bored hearing the sweet sound of the 3.5L VQ V6 engine then just turn up the volume on the BOSE 5.1-channel surround sound system that comes with the Teana, the sound quality as with all Bose systems is truly amazing.

The new Nissan Teana will go on sale late this summer, so best get your order in now.

Source - AutoBlog

Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe will produce 300 horsepower

It seems that the Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe will be aiming their sites at cars such as the 2010 Nissan 370Z as the new car will be able to produce 300 horsepower plus. This is thanks to the use of a direct-injected Ecotec four-cylinder engine from General Motors, which has a turbo mounted on as well.

This engine will might also be used in the Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Redline convertibles. However I have to stress that it is just a rumor at this stage, but what a nice prospect ah. Please do not get exited just yet, remember not so long ago when it was rumored that the Pontiac Solstice was to get a all-wheel-drive or a V6 version and GM told us that they have no plans to do this.

Source - eGM Cartech via Auto Blog