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Have Nissan and Infiniti Lost Their Mojo?
Nissan has lost its marketing magic. Nissan Motor Co. President-CEO Carlos Ghosn confessed at a recent Tokyo press conference that though the automaker's models are well-received by consumers, the Nissan and Infiniti names fall "somewhere in the middle of the pack" when it comes to brand strength. He seemed to be committing to a marketing push to solve the problem: "Building our brand power is critically important."

Indeed, brand perception is the differentiator when consumers select a Toyota or Honda over a Nissan, said Jesse Toprak, executive director-industry analysis at auto info site Edmunds.com. He said that because Nissan's image in recent years is more of sporty performance, the brand isn't as strong as the other two Japanese transplants.

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Have Nissan and Infiniti Lost Their Mojo?



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atomicbriatomicbri - 5/7/2007 11:32:37 AMView My AgentSpace
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Well I can only say it is unfortunate then for buyers if they don't have these cars by Nissan on their shopping list. Toyotas may be built well but the are hella bland to drive, YAWNSVILLE! As for Honda, they drive better than Toyotas, but Nissans drive really well. Maybe they need to get some head to head comparisons maybe. Nothing better than having a family sedan that is fun to drive when not hauling them around!

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silverarrow2silverarrow2 - 5/7/2007 4:17:10 PM
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The problem is with their design. They age so quickly, and too much of Renault inspiration wich is not a great thing when selling cars to picky Americans.


S4cabriofoxoneS4cabriofoxone - 5/7/2007 8:22:16 PMView My AgentSpace
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True about the designs- and another thing, they're very tricky to redesign, as it's hard to keep those edgy shapes fresh. Look at the new Altima, for instance. While the last-gen was revolutionary in Nissan's lineup, the new one is a cautious step forward, because Nissan is afraid to change the car dramatically. There are also the designs that don't work, such as the new Sentra and Maxima. I don't know what they're going to do for the next batch of redesigns.


dlindlin - 5/7/2007 10:35:12 PM
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It's in a way similar to AUDI, which has nice product, bu people just won't put it over Merc and Bimmer. NISSAN has no doubt come under Toyota. Honda's got a much bigger problem.


DaveDave - 5/7/2007 11:57:39 AM
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is it just me or am I the only one who thinks the next GT-R supercar should be branded an Infiniti instead of Nissan in the United States market? The GT-R could do absolute wonders for the Infiniti brand image(especially with the next Lexus LF-A and Acura NSX coming). I understand there's an immense amount of heritage behind why the GT-R should be called a Nissan and I respect that. BUT, 'heritage' isn't going to convince many rich people(the most likely buyers who can afford the expensive GT-R, NOT young racer boys who can only dream about it) who don't know of the GT-R heritage background to spend 70 to 80 grand on a Nissan.
When I saw pictures of the new Nissan Altima coupe, it looked way too similar in profile compared to the next Infiniti G37. This makes it difficult for someone to justify spending more money on a luxury brand. The Toyota Solara convertible looks very similar to the Lexus SC430. The new Toyota Camry resembles the new Lexus ES. The Acura RL looks just like the Honda Accord. The Infiniti M45 looks like the new Nissan Altima!! The Japanese companies should get totally different people to design their luxury brands to make them distinctive from their mass produced standard brands. Then it will justify their luxury brand prices.

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silverarrow2silverarrow2 - 5/7/2007 4:22:29 PM
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You're not the only one, I wondered that myself.
It's kind of what Mitsu did, they made a big super Galant (diamanti) with an entry luxury price tag. That's fine if you are a bid dog already, but when you are struggling it is better to pick a luxury name like the big 3 from Japan did.


ExigeOwnerExigeOwner - 5/7/2007 11:59:04 AM
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well they need to ax the Maxima or go all the way and make it AWD or RWD. I have an Altima SE-R and while it's a great looking and agile big sedan, FWD kills the driving dynamic. I also owned a G35 coupe but the G37 is a watered down version of an awesome, edgy, attractive car.

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answeranswer - 5/7/2007 12:18:31 PMView My AgentSpace
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I have always thought the Nissan logo sucks. It's predecesor the simple "Nissan" written name was even better.

Infiniti's print ads all look the same regardless of what car they feature. Their TV ads are about the same.

Both brands could use some image work. Good cars though!

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silverarrow2silverarrow2 - 5/7/2007 4:25:47 PM
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Logos have nothing to do with anything. Toyota doesn't have a good looking logo either, but they are doing find.

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indoctrin8edindoctrin8ed - 5/7/2007 5:34:45 PM
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I rented a M35 last week and "gave her hell". It was a nice car, but not quite good enough to best BMW or Mercedes. The level of refinement was high in many areas, but a lot of "oopsies" in others that I just couldn't get past. Nissan will have to EXCEED BMW's for less money in order to raise their own status. "almost as good" or "better for the money" isn't good enough to elevate Infiniti.

My thoughts on the car was that build quality overall was nice, but things like the metal trim that is to the right of my right leg was uncomfortable for my leg to rest again. The seat felt solid, but whenever I take off hard or brake hard, there was about 2-3mm of play in the seat track that allowed the seat to lurch forward just a tiny bit that annoyed me. The dash is nice, but they stuck in these big white plastic buttons that don't match and don't look nice to the nicely crafted wood paneling.

The car was big, and felt bigger than the five series, perhaps a little too big.

Steering feedback was ok, but could use more. If you don't want feedback, then Lexus is better. If you want feeback, BMW is better. This middle ground is the worst of both worlds.

The looks of the car aren't very interesting, but not offensive either.

Yawn.


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indoctrin8edindoctrin8ed - 5/7/2007 5:41:18 PM
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And for the record, I never thought Inifinity had "Mojo" until the G35 arrived.

I loved the old 280Z's -- seriously fun to drive cars. And the 1990 300Z Turbo was, and still is a great looking car, years ahead of itself.

As far as I'm concerned, Nissan only had "Mojo" in that 280/300/350 line of sport coupes. The rest are and always have been boring.


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S4cabriofoxoneS4cabriofoxone - 5/7/2007 9:19:24 PMView My AgentSpace
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Infiniti. I'm a bit sick of people calling themselves "car enthusiasts" who still don't know how to spell it. It's probably a nightmare for the brand, too.

One more thing- it's in the article, and you still spelled it wrong?


EnnNorakEnnNorak - 5/7/2007 6:34:13 PM
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Nissan lost it with me when they adopted the CVT. Agree with above comments advocating AWD.

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no1listensanywayno1listensanyway - 5/7/2007 7:17:08 PMView My AgentSpace
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Their styling dates quickly. There materials are cheap. In fact my freind is looking for a new car and we checked out the Altima and Accord. And After the Accord being on the market for six years, it still had better materials and quality then the brand new Altima. He is picking up his Accord this week.

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indoctrin8edindoctrin8ed - 5/8/2007 5:57:12 AM
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Yeah. I keep spellin it the right way, not the car way. Does that mean I'm not a car enthusiast or a victim of freudian slips? Or maybe I'm just not an *Infiniti* enthusiast, with all due respect.

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indoctrin8edindoctrin8ed - 5/8/2007 6:02:15 AM
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I didn't find their materials cheap. The dash had nice, solid wood. Their seats showed plush, thick leather. There was nice trim pieces of brushed aluminum. Everything felt heavy, thick, solid. And yes, that's what she said. Nevertheless, the car lacked something intangible, and some things tangible. InifinitI needs to beat BMW, Mercedes, to beat them.



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mp2dtwmp2dtw - 5/9/2007 12:24:47 AM
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I used to think that Nissans and Infinitis were pretty decent looking. Now they're uglier than nearly anything but Mitsubishi and Pontiac. What happened to the company that sold the 240SX, Pulsar, and 300Z with some nice looking Stanza & Maxima sedans? The Altima is worse than Michael Jackson's and Joan Rivers' faces combined. It looks wrong from every angle. The Sentra is a small Altima. Can you tell the difference between the Altima and Maxima? They should have just taken the Megane design for the Verso. The Infinitis are a bit better, but not much. Simply, Nissan does nothing exceptionally well.

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