Sixty years ago this month, Nissan had the first public showing of its vehicles in the U.S. at the 1958 Los Angeles Auto Show. Little did the company know that the simple display of three cars and a tiny truck would six decades later lead to Nissan becoming a major player in the U.S. market with 22,000 employees and annual sales of 1.5 million vehicles.
Today, Nissan revealed its two newest models – both assembled in the U.S. – the 2019 Maxima sedan and 2019 Murano crossover at the 2018 Los Angles Auto Show. Both models are set to go on sale at Nissan dealers nationwide in December.
“Los Angeles is where it all began for Nissan in the U.S., so we’re proud to support this always vibrant auto show with the first showings of these two new flagship models, Maxima and Murano,” said Dan Mohnke, senior vice president, Sales & Marketing and Operations, Nissan Division U.S., Nissan North America, Inc. “Both vehicles embody the vision for the future that we call Nissan Intelligent Mobility, which provides technology in ways that move people to a better world.”
The new 2019 Maxima features an aggressive, updated exterior appearance with a more voluminous front grille with a deeper V-motion flow that carries into the hood and down the body to the redesigned rear tail lamps and rear fascia with integrated quad-tip exhaust finishers. The precision crafted interior offers updated trim finishers and materials, along with available diamond-quilted Rakuda Tan semi-aniline leather appointments.
Revisions to the popular third-generation Murano crossover’s exterior add a more pronounced front V-motion grille, redesigned LED headlights and taillights, new LED fog lights, new 18-inch and 20-inch aluminum-alloy wheel designs and three fresh new exterior colors.
Murano interior enhancements are led by new semi-aniline leather-appointed seats with diamond-quilted inserts and contrasting micro-piping trim. Other changes include three new interior trim finishers and the addition of Nissan’s innovative Rear Door Alert and available Traffic Sign Recognition and Intelligent Lane Intervention.
Both the Maxima and Murano offer the availability of Nissan Safety Shield 360, a suite of six advanced active safety and driver-assist technologies designed to help provide 360 degrees of active driver assistance, crash avoidance and pedestrian detection. Safety Shield 360 includes Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Blind Spot Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Lane Departure Warning, High Beam Assist and Rear Automatic Braking.
“Nissan Safety Shield 360 is now available on five 2019 models. In addition to Murano and Maxima, it is offered on the 2019 Altima, Rogue and Rogue Sport,” said Mohnke. “Moving forward, Safety Shield 360 will be offered as standard equipment on one million new Nissan vehicles sold annually in the U.S. by 2021.”
The 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show public days run from Friday, Nov. 30 through Sunday, Dec. 9.
