Digitally Revived Nissan Maxima Flaunts New Qashqai Styling Cues

Nissan would have to wait until 1986 for the second-gen sedan to clock over 100,000 sales in the United States of America. 1994 was the nameplate's best sales year in this part of the world, moving 163,138 units during the year that also gave us Green Day's Dookie, Pantera's Far Beyond Driven, The Offspring's Smash, and Jeff Buckley's Grace.

1994 was undeniably great as far as music is concerned. Looking at the bigger picture, this decade also marked the beginning of the end for sedans in the United States. The downfall was slow but steady, with a small rebound after the 2007 to 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent Car Allowance Rebate System (i.e., cash for clunkers).

The writing on the wall became all too apparent in 2018, with the Maxima dropping from 67,627 to 42,337 deliveries. Considering that Yokohama-based Nissan moves way more crossovers than regular cars and trucks, it made sense for the company to discontinue its flagship sedan after the 2023 model year. But what if the Maxima got another shot in the guise of a ninth generation?

Enter Digimods DESIGN, whose latest pixel work is half Nissan and half Lexus. The Lexus part is easily noticeable from rear lights and mirror caps, whereas the Nissan part is particularly obvious up front with the Qashqai-like radiator grille and lights. Think of the Qashqai as the Rogue Sport for Europe, as in a compact front-biased crossover.

Nissan refreshed the Qashqai two months ago, with the facelifted model's exterior styling harking back to the Ariya electric utility vehicle. Although it's hard to call it beautiful, Qashqai does have a trick up its sleeve in the form of e-Power. That's Nissan jargon for an internal combustion engine acting as a generator for a lithium-ion battery that provides energy to an electric motor. Propulsion, therefore, is exclusively electric, and the generator in question makes the Qashqai e-Power a very compelling alternative to traditional battery-electric vehicles.

Turning our attention back to the Maxima, styling cues from the Qashqai and e-Power wouldn't be nearly enough to justify bringing the large sedan back from the dead. Remember the Avalon? Flagging sales forced Toyota to can it after model year 2022, but as opposed to Nissan, the biggest Japanese automaker of them all has an indirect successor for its large sedan. That replacement is the Crown, which comes exclusively as a hybrid.

This hybrid-exclusive approach also applies to the Camry, which continues to sell in large numbers alongside Honda's evergreen Accord. The midsizers accounted for 290,649 and 197,947 sales in the United States last year, whereas the Civic sold 200,381 units, the Corolla 232,370, and the Tesla Model 3 something like 232,700 vehicles.

Given the aforementioned numbers, a large sedan makes little sense as demand for crossovers and trucks continues to grow year over year. In other words, don't hold your breath for a new Maxima anytime soon. Instead, look forward to a battery-electric sedan, a zero-emission vehicle that will be produced at Nissan's Canton, Mississippi plant.