AUTO ADVERTISING Kirk Michae} or Marc Rovner 980-0514 AUTO CLASSIFIEDS 986-6222 Nissan unveils new cars Busy automaker set to bring four new cars to market David Chao OVERDRIVE TWO YEARS ago, Nissan changed the way it marketed its vehicles when it intro- duced the bread-and-butter family car, the Altima. Instead of portraying itself as a maker of sports vehicles -— as the automaker had been. doing for many years previous to 1992 — Nissan. took the opposite approach and started focusing on the family- oriented vehicles. The formula has worked beyond Nissan's expectations. The Altima, dressed with luxury car styling touches and powered by a healthy, energetic four-cylinder engine, exceeded Nissan's sales . forecast and soon became onc of "dhe company’s best sellers. In fact, the Altima is currently selling at four times the pace of its predeces- sor, the stodgy Stanza. ' Soon followed the handsome Nissan Quest minivan, which cep- tured consumers’ attention and _ became a serious threat to Toyota's Previa and Mazda's aging MPV Minivans. But Nissan didn't stop there. This past spring, the automaker introduced the highly refined, superbly built Maxima sedan and the luxury-oriented 240S8X sports coupe, further strengthening its position against formidable Toyota and Honda. With the Maxima, Nissan proved that it's possible to offer a $25,000 family sedan that feels, drives, rides, and performs like a top luxury sedan costing twice its price. While the Maxima’s somewhat boring exterior styling received mixed comments from consumers and critics, its 190-horsepower powerplant and solid chassis received overwhelming praises. A number of innovative ideas REGENCY AUTO GROUP were implemented into the new Maxima, including the new, patent- ed Muld-Link Beam rear suspen- sion, which uulizes a specially- designed composite linkage mecha- nism to climinate unwanted lateral movement during sharp turns. Then there’s the completely revised 240SX coupe — acar that has matured into a semi-luaury sports car. Instead of making the 1995 version more powerful and aggressive in character, Nissan decided to give it a slightly softer, smoather feel. Touting it as a “luxury coupe.” Nissan is hoping to capture a greater market share by offering a comfortable, hassle-tree sports car that’s also classy, luxurious and civilized. Nissan claims that more and more sports car buyers are demand- ing this type of coupe. instead of the boy-racer style models that have been the hallmark of many - four-cylinder equipped Japanese GT cars in the past. Although tue enthusiasts may be disappointed by Nissan’s move to market the 240SX upscale, there is plenty of punch and handling prowess in the SX to keep most sports car buyers happy. The 155- horsepower engine and vibration- free hody sti] make this car 4 wor- thy choice for many sports car buy- ers. So are these vehicles the only news-breaking stories for 1995 from Nissan? Far from it. This winter, Nissan is planning to unveil two more all-new vehi- cles to the marke? to follow in the footsteps of the Maxima and 240SX. The faithful Nissan Sentra, which has been around for some years now, will be replaced by a totally re-engineered model. It will be, as expected, larger, smoother, more efficient, and offer more fea- tures than ever before. V, The Sentra’s new skin borrows many styling cues from both the Altinia and Maxima sedans, and Promises to aliracl more customers by offering the same environment as Nissan's other successtul mod- els: upscale features and styling touches at value-oriented prices. Along with the new Sentra sedans, Nissan will introduce a new fun-to-drive coupe called the 2008X. Yes, the 200SX. the same name that was Used back in the “80s for Nissan's affordable. no- HaNseNse sports Coupe. Actually, the 200SX is not exactly a Mand-alone model: rather, it's a spin-off version of the just described, upcoming Sentra model. However, with a firmer suspension, quicker stecring and — we hope — a more powerful engine, the 200SX coupe will be much more challeng- ing to drive than the conservative Sentra models. By the time spring reaches our city, another new Nissan model will debut — this time from Nissan's luxury division Infiniti. Based on the new “95 Maxima platform, the new Infiniti 130 (photo shawn) will be brought to the market to fill the gap between Infiniti’s smallest sedan, the G20, and its mid-level model, the J20. The V-6 powered 13.0 will com- pete head-to-head with Toyota's Lexus ES300, Mazda’ just intro- duced Millenia, and other mid- sized luxury sedans, Although details are still sketchy, Nissan's executive vice- president, Yves Boyers, says that the 130, “reflects everything we've learned from our Q45 about com- bining luxury and performance, without compromising cither, in one exciting package.” We won't know for some time how well Nissan's upcoming mad- els will perform on the road, but if the recent additions to Nissan’s _ lineup are any indications, | think the party has just begun. ng CHRYSLER se wae PARTS & SERVICE oieect PARTS PARTS LINE 980-2055 SALES & SERVICE 980-8501 ES ; REGU? : Photo submitted THE NEW Infiniti 130 hits showrooms next spring to fill Nissan's product gap between the G20 and the mid-level J30. 7AVLORMOTIVE B.C.A.A. - A.R.A. - APPROVED AirCare - Gov. Certified #50222 TUNE-UPS ~ FUEL SYSTEMS ~ ELECTRICAL OUR 36TH YEAR ~116 PEMBERTON AVE. 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