Nissan shuffles trim level designators
Along with the 2009 Nissan Maxima's new styling comes new trim level designations. Apparently Nissan's classical conventions have been muddled over the years, so buyers get confused about what the GLE or SL stuck onto the trunklid means. Does it have a CVT? Leather? At least the V6 is easily discerned by the 3.5 badging. The new flavor of alphabet soup goes like this: Base is S, fitted with common options will be the SV, luxury is SL, and people who like to drive will want to keep an eye out for the SR combo; we wonder if the R will be red.
[Source: Inside Line]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Juan 8:21AM (5/30/2008)
What the heck is SV? I get the others, but SV? Really? I guess its no worse than the rest of them...
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geo.stewart 8:35AM (5/30/2008)
S for Standard
V for Value
L for Luxury wannabe
R for Racey looking
Torrent 9:51AM (5/30/2008)
SV is gay. just call it SE like normal Nissans? oh it is their:
"we want to be different" strategy?
Yeah about that.........
DON'T BE DIFFERENT IT DIFFEENT LOOKS LIKE THIS.
Matt 2:56PM (5/30/2008)
Um, SE wasn't the step up from the S when I leased a Murano in 2005. Back then the model designators were:
S -- a just introduced base trimline
SL -- the step up
SE -- Performance model
SE-R -- High performance model
Some models like the Altima had an "S with Value Package" option, but most S's carried few options.
AMcA 8:38PM (5/30/2008)
Weird. Ugly.
Phil Perman 8:31AM (5/30/2008)
So S, the letter normally used to denote sport or supercharged it now used to represent the bottom end model? Well that makes sense
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Ligor 8:49AM (5/30/2008)
sport used to mean that the car has the bare minimums on it - that way it weighs less and is the fastest of all the trim levels.
most sport cars have now moved to luxury coupes, except for thinks like the LotusElise and such
Will 9:05AM (5/30/2008)
Does Nissan still make anything with an SR-series engine?
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SNIFFDAR 9:08AM (5/30/2008)
Goodness, I just quit selling Nissans. The two trim levels were SE (Sport) & SL (Luxury). From there, you add the additional option packages. If anything, this will make it harder for sales people. What a mess...
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icu812ru469 9:16AM (5/30/2008)
The thing is to keep it consistent across the board and not get muffled again. It doesn't matter what you designate the trims, you can use X, Y, Z, F, J blah blah to mean whatever, but just make it the same. Look at Honda, DX, LX, EX from low to high and it's always been that way. Very easy to "remember" from year to year as long as it's consistent. Toyota has issues with trim too... CE, C, XL, XLE, ugh...
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SNIFFDAR 9:36AM (5/30/2008)
Currently, this is how it plays out...
Versa (S, SL)
Sentra (Base, S, SL, SE-R)
Altima (Base, S, SE, SL, HEV)
Altima Coupe (S, SE)
Maxima (SE, SL)
350z (Base, Enthusiast, Touring, Grand Touring, NISMO).
Again, just start adding option packages everywhere. I agree, it should be a lot more simplified. It's a mess.
tom6433 6:37PM (5/30/2008)
don't forget the honda civic cx and hx.
also the sentra has an se-r spec v.
i don't understand this move. i always thought the s was the base model, sl was the more luxurious offering, se was a sportier model, and the se-r was the top of the line. i own a se-r altima and work for a nissan dealer, and i never thought it was hard to figure out. unless you dumb it down like gm, ie chevys are ls, lt1, lt2, lt3, ltz. i mean that makes sense...
Zach 9:34AM (5/30/2008)
all i can say is.. the SR version better have a 6spd...
much like my Altima SE-R has now :)
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SNIFFDAR 9:40AM (5/30/2008)
It's CVT action all the way...
Dodge 9:47AM (5/30/2008)
While we're on the subject, what the heck does XE stand for on base frontiers and why was it an S13 coupe model lol, nissan has never been consistent with their package nomenclature.
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Rick 12:10PM (5/30/2008)
Nissan killed the Maxima :(
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Mobius_1 9:48AM (5/30/2008)
Why not just have a base model to which option packs are added?
Oh wait, that will make car shopping too easy and won't confuse consumers enough
PS I tried configuring a 350Z just for fun a while back, I quit when I saw the trim levels page
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Eek 11:41AM (5/30/2008)
Ya know, in that picture, from the A-Pillars back it doesn't look like that bad a car. Still don't know what they were thinking with those hideous headlights and ugly grill.
Wouldn't it be nice if car buying was like that Mobius? We can only dream.
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Matt Keller 2:52PM (5/30/2008)
Sport
Sport Value
Sport Luxury
Sport Racer
?
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