The folks over at Winding Road who live and work in the land of test mules have caught another one with their camera-equipped Treo. This time it's a Nissan Teana, a large sedan sold by the Japanese automaker in its home market and abroad, but not in the U.S. So what's it doing in a Barnes & Noble parking lot in Brighton, MI? Your guess is as good as ours, but this isn't the first time a right-hand drive Teana has been seen in the U.S.
Many have posited that Nissan is preparing an answer to the Toyota Avalon, though most auto pundits agree that Nissan already has several smart responses for the Avalon in the Altima, Maxima and their rear-wheel drive sibling, the Infiniti G35. The Maxima is already the odd one out in Nissan's lineup, so adding the Teana would only serve to give Nissan's customers a third choice in the front-wheel drive, mid-size segment and further fragment the brand's four-door sedan sales. In our estimation the Maxima needs to go, which would instantly make more cap space for something the likes of the Teana in Nissan's lineup. There is certainly a market for large front-wheel drive sedans above a brand's mid-size offering, as not only the Avalon, but also the Ford Five-Hundred and Chevy Impala have proven. The Maxima, however, is too close to the Altima to fill that role for Nissan. The Teana, however, is demonstrably larger than the Altima, and with Buick-like suspension tuning and a powerful VQ V6 underhood could hopefully attract a different audience.
[Source: Winding Road]
Many have posited that Nissan is preparing an answer to the Toyota Avalon, though most auto pundits agree that Nissan already has several smart responses for the Avalon in the Altima, Maxima and their rear-wheel drive sibling, the Infiniti G35. The Maxima is already the odd one out in Nissan's lineup, so adding the Teana would only serve to give Nissan's customers a third choice in the front-wheel drive, mid-size segment and further fragment the brand's four-door sedan sales. In our estimation the Maxima needs to go, which would instantly make more cap space for something the likes of the Teana in Nissan's lineup. There is certainly a market for large front-wheel drive sedans above a brand's mid-size offering, as not only the Avalon, but also the Ford Five-Hundred and Chevy Impala have proven. The Maxima, however, is too close to the Altima to fill that role for Nissan. The Teana, however, is demonstrably larger than the Altima, and with Buick-like suspension tuning and a powerful VQ V6 underhood could hopefully attract a different audience.
[Source: Winding Road]
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