Autoblog

Click above to view the Renault Safrane in high resolution

The Persian Gulf is fast becoming a demanding market for luxury automobiles. So demanding, in fact, that some automakers have begun creating special models just for consumption there. Just days ago we brought you news that Rolls-Royce, having already shipped a golden Drophead Coupe for one special customer, was launching a limited edition Phantom saloon called the Peony edition.

This, however, is not a special Rolls-Royce. We won't list all the ways in which it isn't a Roller, but will save your time and ours by listing instead what it shares in common. It's a luxury sedan, and it's made specially to be engulfed by the Gulf market. That's about it. The Safrane nameplate was previously used for Renault's lackluster flagship sedan, replaced by the reviled Vel Satis in 2000. So what is this exactly that has revived the name? A rebadged Samsung SM5, essentially. That vehicle is produced in an 80.1% Renault-owned joint venture in South Korea. If you're noticing some similarities with our own Nissan Maxima, you've got a keen eye, as it shares its platform with the last-gen Maxima as well as the Nissan Teana (itself available only in the Asian market).

Unless you live in Dubai, you probably won't be seeing one of these any time soon, but you can check it out in the gallery below.

[Source: Renault via CarScoop]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Nissan Teana and Teana XV

Back in October of last year, Nissan unveiled the Intima concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. The large front-wheel-drive sedan previewed the styling for the new Teana (above, dark) and more luxurious Teana XV (above, light) that Nissan and its Chinese joint-venture partner Dongfeng debuted at the Auto China show in Beijing. The connection between concept and production vehicle is strong here, with the windswept front fasica, large greenhouse, and kink at the bottom of the C-pillar coming over intact. The flush grille, LED headlamps and suicide doors, however, did not.

The Teana will have a strong link to the western world thanks to the platform on which it rides, which is also shared with the Altima, Maxima and Murano. Power is provided by Nissan's award-winning 3.5L VQ V6 engine, which is mated to a CVT transmission for the Chinese. It appears that a bevy of 2.0 and 2.5L four-cylinder powerplants will also be available when the car goes on sale in late Summer.

Make no mistake, the Teana is a large, luxurious front-wheel-drive sedan, just like the current Maxima here in the U.S. It even features such niceties as a BOSE 5.1-channel surround sound system and Nissan's panoramic sunroof in the XV version.
Check out more pics of the new Nissan Teana in the gallery below.



All photos Copyright ©2008 Bin Chen / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Click above for a gallery of the Nissan Teana brochure.

The Scoopers of Cars have gotten their hands on a scanned brochure of the production version of the Nissan Intima concept, and it seems that in addition to getting a mass-market makeover, it will also be sporting a Teana badge when it goes on sale in Japan. The transition from concept to production has been uncharacteristically kind to the Teana, with the tightly drawn headlamps, plummeting C-pillar and elongated tail lamps surviving, but the suicide doors and 22nd century interior must have been scrapped due to feasibility issues. We'll get our first official taste of the Teana when it's finally revealed on April 20th at the Beijing Motor Show.



[Source: Carscoop]