Recent reports suggest that the Nissan Maxima, a storied nameplate in the Nissan lineup predating even the Nissan brand in the US (was original sold as the Datsun Maxima) may end production after the 2023 model year. On sale since the 1981 model year, the Maxima is currently in its eighth generation. The current generation launched for the 2016 model year and had a minor refresh in 2019.
But those same reports also suggest that the Maxima could return in 2025 as the nameplate attached to Nissan’s EV sedan being developed alongside a new Infiniti sedan, both to be built in the US. There is quite a bit of logic here as it does make perfect sense to bring a storied nameplate like Maxima into the EV era. Could this also mean a resurrection of the storied Q45 nameplate for Infiniti’s version? I digress.
But that is not the only way to preserve the Maxima nameplate. Should the EV car ultimately be called a different name, Nissan could keep the Maxima around by applying a nomenclature ‘downshift’ of sorts. Nissan’s sedan lineup in the US currently consists of the Versa, Sentra, Altima and Maxima. The Sentra, much like the Maxima has been around since the early 1980s and also predates the Nissan nameplate. Altima, originally a renaming of the Stanza, debuted for the 1993 model year. Versa on the other hand, debuted for the 2007 model year. At times the cheapest car available in the US, it was always considered as a low budget vehicle.
Nissan ultimately could choose to sunset the Versa nameplate, renaming that model the Sentra, rename the Sentra as the Altima and finally apply the Maxima nameplate to the current Altima. While this is unlikely to be permanent solution as even 3 moderately priced sedans may prove to be unsustainable further out into the future and electrification is likely to permeate most of the Nissan lineup over the next decade or so. Maybe by then the discussion will be which of the upcoming electric SUVs the Maxima nameplate should be attached to?
The Autolytic 