Let’s try this one again.
Image: Carscoops
Let’s try this one again.
Image: Carscoops
Execrable. Nissan is trying too hard.
Just soooooo busy. So many different styling cues and ideas, almost like a design by committee. “Ok, quarter panel group, show me what you got. Grilles, you’re up next…”
Busy. Exactly so.
Both. Certain elements work, some are just too much, some are dependent on the vehicle they’re applied to. I don’t feel compelled to buy anything Nissan makes, but at least it gives me reason to pay attention to them.
I still like the Juke though, so I’m content if they stay a little weird.
I don’t like it, but there are worse. There seems to be a plague among automakers where they seem compelled to substitute styling for style. Swooping body lines and sharp creases are the tail fins of the twenty-teens.
I know that we wax nostalgic over the tail fin era of automotive design, but it really was baroque in the original pejorative sense. Today’s styling is analogous in that they are forcing styling elements into designs whether it works aesthetically or not.
Agreed. Too many car design chefs cook barely tolearable food but disguise it under gallons of controvertially spicy sauce.
Part of that is due to overly high belt lines. Those giant, featureless flanks need to be broken up with curves, swerves and creases to hide their bulk.
The end result is giant expanses of curves, swerves and creases…
Apart from the M45, I can’t think of many Nissan designs I was impressed with over the last 15 years, honestly.
Their designs come off as Junior designers attempting to make a name for themselves so they can get hired into the big-leagues.
I know this isn’t true, they’ve employed some impressive designers, but they do seem to try too hard on every execution.
Also, the black-panel-over-thick-pillar trend needs to die.
The 350 was probably the best looking of the turtle cars in my book. Their BOF truck/suv lineup had some lookers too in my book.
Recently it has been pretty bad.
I really think the 1995 Micra and the 2006 Micra were a breath of fresh air, styling-wise. Girly, yes, but clean, simple lines and no crazy overhangs. The bug-eye headlamps are the only detail I would change on the 2006- models.
Also, Renault have an influence on everything Nissan creates. It’s usually not obvious, but it’s there.
Overwrought. There’s the weird D-pillar treatment with the black, and all the strange angles. Other Nissans, especially the new Maxima, are equally busy, and other automakers are starting to do the same thing.
Flame surfacing? I’d rather just set fire to it.
Just for the record, I typed “overwrought” prior to seeing your comment. I think we have the definitive term for it.
It manages to be overwrought and yet still come across as weak, directionless and namby-pamby. With apologies to Pink Floyd, I would describe it as “Uncomfortably Numb.”
Definitely directionless. I can’t for the life of me, distinguish between the following 2014 models, when I see one in traffic:
Pathfinder
X-Trail
Dualis
Quashquai (Seriously??)
I don’t think Nissan have a grip on their range. “Let’s just add more crossover-type cars and hope for the best.”
Someone needs to give the designer’s less time. It seems they keep putting in character lines and other design cues way past the point of being “done”.
WTH is going on at the bottom of the doors?
In keeping with tradition, Nissans in general continue to be ugly.
Cartoonish would be my description. And when did rear visibility become obsolete?
When everyone decided that turning their head was too much work and tv screens are better.
It saddens me that the answer is indeed that simple…
The TV screens only come on when selecting reverse, though. They’re not much help otherwise…
The Nissan Gripz – which sounds like a hookup app for stage hands, but I digress – does have one good idea:
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–_WB8daMb–/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/1431546076281437358.jpg
If we are forced to have thick A-pillars for rollover protection, cutouts so you can still see out is a useful innovation.
Because credit where it’s due…
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Goteborg_Volvo_Museum_65_SCC.jpg
Vovlo pitched this in 2001 with the SCC concept.
Yeah, but then they didn’t do anything with it. Still a good idea I’d like to see actually show up on the market. Hopefully on something better looking than the Gripz.
Our back end is fucked right now… so here’s the text that is supposed to be with this post. We’re working to get it all back together, apologies folks
Nissan used to be Datsun here in the States, and they used to have cars like the 240Z and 510, simple, handsome, and today some of the most coveted of ‘70s Japanese imports. Then something happened. The 510 was supplanted by the 610 which was weird looking, while the Z-car grew dachshund-ish with an ill-conceived 2+2 edition. It got so bad that in the early ‘80s the company changed their name here in the U.S. and brought back both the boxy and its 510 name. The Z grew an X and some fancy duds, and in general Nissan got religion when it came to styling.
Now – in my humble opinion – things have once again slipped down that slippery slope. Nissan’s products for 2016 and the near term beyond have gotten all funky again. They have all sorts of creases and angles and fake windows and who knows what going on. Some might aver that this makes them both visually interesting and uniquely representative of the brand, which I think could be argued. I don’t know about that however, and I’d like your opinion on Nissan’s current styling trends, do you think it’s a good place to go, or have they simply lost their way?
Your where is what what?
http://static0.volkskrant.nl/static/photo/2012/8/2/14/20120622142328/media_xl_1247054.jpg
I agree with everyone saying this is too busy and directionless. And since we’re talking about Nissan, I already inagine the rust forming around the sharp edges, particularly with the awful lights.
That said, I applaud Nissan’s appetite for producing odd looking cars like the Juke or Murano Convertible. They have an interesting lineup, which should create confidence for them, too.
I saw a new Maxima in traffic yesterday… with the V6’s optional aero bits it actually looks far better than any other current FWD midsize. The pedestrian-friendly high hood and generic stretched-prius aerodynamic profile are well hidden and the C-pillar/decklid/ducktail arrangment flows very nicely.
It’s like Nissan is striving to be all Exner and everything, only devoid of actual coolness.
If only they had Exner’s enthusiasm. They seem to have picked up where Exner left off…..ie going nuts and designing the ’61 Plymouth. All Nissan did was to make it bigger, to fit on a CUV/SUV platform.
Do they call it Flame Broiled styling?
The bull ring on the front end bugs me the most. I eventually accepted the weird roof and the zig-zag headlights, but the bull ring just looks stupid. Nissans used to have nice front ends. I’m not sure where things went haywire.
http://bit.ly/rogKTZ
Correct me if I’m wrong, but everything is the same underneath, right? I feel like designers have to do something, anything, to make their crossover stand out from the herd. It’s a bbbbbbb jm jhjhhi0ol,kki
My wife’s toe decided to say something there. Don’t ask.
your wife and my cat have similar tendencies.
I agree with Maymar’s post. Nissan’s styling is both. There are some interesting styling cues but as a whole I feel Nissan is sort of directionless. I also feel that the styling direction is too busy to have any sort of redeemable staying power.
i have to refrain from comment until I actually start seeing newer Nissans on the road. too many times have i condemned styling before seeing it work in person. i suspect that’s how i’ll feel about the Maxima. and i actually like this Murano even in the image here.
So what happened to Disqus on Friday?
+1. Disqus just needed a weekend off? Good to see that this time around, the comments came back.
It was an Olympic fail. Something threw the Disqus.
Dear Nissan,
We hate you.
Sincerely, Auto body shops everywhere.
I agree! With styling like that you’ll never know if you have a dent, therefore you’ll never take it to the body shop.
The new maxima front-end looks like Mater with his tongue out. Also lots of exaggerated body lines like an older Hyundai. Needless to say I’m not a big fan.
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