| the living shit out of me as a car guy who came of age as a car guy when Nissan was really blazing some trails for a japanese manufacturer and making cars you wanted to own and wanted to drive. They already have a rwd sedan platform.
They already have a monstrous powertrain/drivetrain to draw from (R35). Why the fuck they wouldnt have just built a Maxima 10 years ago that was essentially an NA R35 powerplant driving either the rear wheels or awd on a sedan with appropriate styling.....and literally bathe in the cash that came rolling in, is beyond me....except I realize that Nissan is not run by car guys anymore. God knows what the model would have matured into by now with all the advances in turbocharging tech and hybrid tech....the Maxima should EASILY be the M5 slayer at a 540i pricepoint...and then they could have sold a limited production turbo version to really embarass the germans. The argument that Nissan doesnt possess the market "posture" to sell such a car is total NONSENSE.
Italian cars are widely regarded as vehicles you buy if you wish to become pals with the local tow truck driver community...yet Alfa Romeo can waltz into the market in which well over half the buyers weren't even born when the last Alfa Romeo was sold in the USA, and launch, without establishing ANY reputation, a $90k 500hp dream machine Quadrofoglio sedan and it outsells production capacity by a long shot (which isnt such a high bar for italian production if we are being totally honest, but still the point remains). So the only reason Nissan doesn't do something better with the Maxima and leave the Altima to the cash cow rental fleet/transportation appliance market segment, is simply because they don't want to and dont care to because Nissan is run by non-car guys.
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