Carmaker1

Thank you, mostly because of few friends in other areas of the industry and my dad's information, is what connects me to Nissan. Lexus information is similar to that with regards to friends, as well as access to certain privileged information (which thankfully I never signed NDAs).

That right there, is one thing I do blame Mr. Ghosn for. I forgot to mention, that Japanese-owned Nissan in the mid-1990s opted to post-pone a new platform for the A33 Maxima in the 2001 model year to MY 2003 and pushed forward a 1999.5 redesign (2000 model) on a revised version of the A32 platform introduced belatedly in May 1994 as a '95 model (supposed to be out in 1993 as '94 model). By the time that A33 was launched in the spring of 1999 as a 2000 model and Ghosn arrived that June, he canceled the specialised Maxima platform and opted to consolidate it into the FF-L FWD platform, being developed for the 2002 Altima due 2 years out.

VQ35 V6 was months away from being introduced in the QX4 facelift (January 2000) and I believe Ghosn championed it for the Altima, in an effort to eclipse mid-size competition. In the second half of 1999, the A34 Maxima was then pushed back to be a 2003.5 or 2004 model, rapidly getting final approval in 2000. This meant that the Maxima and Altima would become more close than ever. It just irritates me that they behaved as if this company is penniless, when they are too busy diverting funds towards non-automotive projects.

F1Driver

What's the point of getting a MB CLS when there's already the S class sedan? Well, they're both large sedans geared towards different buyers with different priorities. CLS buyers are looking for style over practicality, whereas, S class buyers are looking for practicality over style. Same thing with Maximas and V6 Altimas. Maxima buyers are looking for style (e.g. 4DSC), whereas, V6 Altima buyers are looking for (family) practicality. See the difference?

Aron9000

^ Until this new Maxima came out this year and pushed the car a bit more upmarket from the Altima, they were almost the same car IMO. Previous models looked way too similar and the interior appointments on the Maxima weren't THAT much nicer to justify the 7-10k jump in MSRP. The Benz CLS and S-class look nothing alike IMO, with the CLS being sportier, firmer ride, better handling, while the S-class is very traditional luxo-barge.

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Thanks for responding Aron
Yep, You knew exactly what I was talking about when that line between the altima and maxima was blurred (that's why I mentioned at one point way earlier on, not the late to current models).

He was trying to use the comparison SML sausage length: sentra, altima, maxima to MB C class, E class (or cls in this discussion), S class

And I never knew the altima was a cls (a "4dr coupe") competitor

F1Driver

I wasn't using the SML sausage comparison. The Altima/Maxima comparison you were referring to were indeed at one point very similiar in size and power. The only differentiating factor was styling where the Maxima was naturally more stylish.
BTW, the Altima was never a CLS competitor. That's where the Maxima comes in, hence, the 4DSC moniker.