Nissan's Fad-Filled Maxima

According to this source, Nissan's Maxima brand has been around since 1981 and is now in its eighth version that was introduced for the 2016 model year.

Styling for the new Maxima was previewed by a 2014 concept car that I wrote about here regarding its visually disconnected roof that I and design critic Robert Cumberford approved of at the time.  Now that the design has reached production I'm beginning to worry that the "floating roof" (as Cumberford referred to it) might be yet another styling cliché on its way, because Nissan is using the same motif on its 2016 Murano (I posted on it here), and some think like it can be seen on the 2016 Lexus RX.

As for the Maxima's overall styling, it's yet another fussy, over-decorated example of current styling fashion.  In recent years, Maximas have been face-lifted Nissan Altimas.  Sometimes the alterations are improvements, other times not.  For 2016, my vote is for the "not" side.

Gallery

Front three-quarter view of a 2016 Nissan Maxima.

And here is a 2016 Nissan Altima for comparison.  The cars share a front-end theme, though details differ.  Note that they also share front fenders as far back as the the front door cut line, a nice way to save a few yen on tooling costs.  Thereafter, the side sculpting differs.  The Maxima features more elaborate sculpting on and aft of the rear door.

Now for some views featuring side and rear design.  This photo emphasizes sleekness.  That said, I find the nib-shape belt line shape in the zone above the rear wheels too massive.  It seems to be an attempt at a new Nissan brand identifier as it is also found on the 2016 Nissan Murano crossover SUV.

The rear is less fussy than the front and sides, though the notch on the outer side of the tail light assembly adds to the unnecessary busyness found elsewhere.

The black divider between the roof and sides seems smaller that it needs to be, though it does fit into the scheme introduced by the "nib" feature mentioned above.  I would try eliminating or considerably shrinking the nib and reworking the trunk lid while incorporating a larger (but not too large!) black separation feature.

Confused Styling: 2015 Nissan Murano

A while ago I wrote about the three generations of the Nissan Murano, mentioning that I might have more to say regarding the most recent version.  That time has come, inspired by a glance at the rear of a Murano I noticed while driving in the Palm Springs, California area recently.

I suppose I should feel sorry for the stylists assigned to redesigning the Murano.  But they were in pretty much the same spot as stylists for other brands, having to deal with basic shapes dictated by government fuel economy regulation as played out by wind tunnel testing.  Like the others, their solution was to dress up that basic shape with all sorts of decorative details.

Where the Nissan crew went wrong, in my opinion, was that they created a disorganized mess of details, the only clear styling theme being that of confusion.

Side view.  The front section of the vehicle is a set of curves when seen in profile.  The side and rear are more linear and angular, aside from the area of the rear wheel.

The rear three-quarter view is where things fall apart design-wise.  The most fussy area is the C-pillar and the nearby tail lights.  What we seem to have here is a series of wedge-shapes flying off in different directions.  Worse, they are concentrated, crammed together in a small section of the body.  Immediately below the wedged tail light is a curve aft of the rear wheel opening, an echo of previous Murano styling.  This abruptly and awkwardly transitions to the rear surfaces that are a confusing blend of flattened arch-shapes and essentially horizontal lines.  This field of fussiness is emphasized by its contrast to the comparatively clean forward sides.

The frontal theme is more coherent, thanks to the angled elements creating a convergent effect.  This is somewhat counteracted by the headlight assemblies with their spikes or wedges pointing in different directions.  Note that the side-shoulder character line crease is the only really linear style feature and, in this image at least, it does not blend well with the rest of the ornamentation.

Nissan Murano's Three Generations

The Nissan Murano crossover SUV was introduced to the American market for the 2003 model year and new versions followed for 2009 and 2015, as this link indicates.

All three have essentially the same wheelbase and the first two have quite similar basic bodies, so just by looking at them, I can't be sure that the 2009 Muranos isn't a major facelift of the original.  The 2015 Murano has similar doors, but the top has a stronger curve front and rear, so at a minimum there was major work done.  (Murano mavens, please comment regarding these observations.)

The initial Murano featured a somewhat symmetrical front/rear fender profile that displeased me when I first saw it.  It gave the vehicle a static appearance.  Apparently Nissan stylists, the car-buying public or both came to a similar conclusion because that feature was ever more strongly eliminated in the succeeding models.

Gallery

2003 Nissan Murano.  Murano is an island cluster in the Venice Lagoon between the Venice proper and the mainland.  It is noted for its glassware.  Note the character line on the fender and how it strongly curves downward near the front and rear wheel openings.  It is these similar curves that create an almost-symmetrical, static feeling to the design.

Front 3/4 view of the 2003 model.  Note the shape of the side windows and the door cut-lines.

This is a 2009 Murano  Its windows and doors are about the same as those on the 2003.  The front character line curve has been eliminated, replaced by a large lip around the wheel opening.  This eliminates the static, symmetrical feel of 2003 styling.  Sheet metal on the doors had been replaced to yield a more sculptured look.

The 2015 Murano.  I might have more to say about its design in a future post.  For now, I'll note that styling has gone into the current fad of rococo overkill.  Observe that the door cut lines remain similar to those of the original Murano.