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Reports from The GreatAuto
People who came from the 00s must have a higher view of Japanese product brands than they do today.
Today, Nissan's model camp is becoming more and more perfect: cars, SUVs, sports cars, pickup trucks, VAN are in full bloom; in China, Dongfeng Nissan and Zhengzhou Nissan as many as 12 models on sale have also brought consumers a wide enough range of choices. However, we cannot deny that today's Nissan has embarked on the road to parity, and there are few models that cost more than 300,000.
Once upon a time, Nissan was also a brand that focused on high-end. Especially in the field of SUVs, QiJun, Lou Lan, and Tule have all labeled themselves as "noble". Of the price points of 300,000 to 800,000, it can almost be described as "killing all sides".
However, in the past decade, the Nissan SUV family has given us more of the impression of affordability, practicality and cost performance. The question is, where did Nissan's high-end car go? In the future, will high-end Japanese SUVs return to our vision?
All this
We all have to start with the "901 Project."
Before the Japanese economic bubble, the pattern of the global auto market was not like this. Japanese, American, and European car brands do not obey anyone. Japanese automakers, represented by Nissan, are eager to become "big brothers" like the junior teenagers in anime. Therefore, during this period of rapid development, the top management of Nissan Motor made a grand plan for this manufacturer - the 901 plan.
The literal meaning of the 901 project is that through a series of technological innovations, Nissan became the world's number one technology leader in 1990, creating the most powerful automobile product in Japan and even on the whole world.
The first step in the 901 program is to deepen the technical field: new technologies such as the GT-R's ATTESA E-TS super four-wheel drive system, RB26DETT high-performance engine, and multi-link backstabbing have sprung up.
Coming to the field of racing, the GT-R has won the first world war, and the JTCC track race has won the championship all year round... In a way, Nissan had already reached the top heights in the world at that time. Because in addition to the achievements of cutting-edge technology and the glory on the racing track, a series of classic high-end cars such as the Duke Y31-Y32, A31 demeanor, S13 Silvia, J30 Maxima, etc., were born in the era of this 901 plan.
So, the models mentioned above are all cars or sports cars, and what is the relationship with Nissan's high-end SUVs? To some extent, the phased success of the 901 plan has given Nissan the confidence and strength to impact the high-end.
For example, the Nissan ATTESA super four-wheel drive system can not only make the GT-R run faster, but also allow Nissan's off-road vehicles or SUVs to have a higher performance side; multi-link rear suspension can not only improve the handling of cars/sports cars, but also further improve the comfort of Nissan SUVs...
As the originator of Japan's hardcore off-road vehicles, Nissan TOUR (PATROL) was first positioned as a tool car, belonging to the category of "rural big jeep". In 1987, during the 901 project, Nissan created the fourth generation of Tule. Replace leaf springs with coil springs, increase comfort with five-link rear suspension, enhance the luxurious atmosphere inside the car... This series of changes marks the beginning of Nissan's efforts in the field of SUVs.
The first decade of the new century
The golden age of Japanese high-end SUVs
If Nissan Tule is an iconic model, it represents Nissan's ability to create luxury off-road vehicles. Then, Qijun and Loulan, which were born after 2000, represent that nissan's overall brand value has been improved.
The first generation of Nissan X-Trail, born in 2000, is Nissan's first SUV product focusing on urban multi-functional travel. At that time, toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V were relatively mature and entered thousands of households. But Nissan X-Trail, which is also compact, has played the slogan of high-end, hoping that the home SUV can also be more advanced.
Strong body, masculine lines, coupled with high searchlights and four-wheel drive system and other off-road elements, the original Qijun with a tough guy temperament, although the price of imported cars was as high as 300,000 at that time, but also gained a large number of fans. Later, with the localization of X-Trail and the change of Nissan's positioning, it was to create such a high-selling, people-friendly SUV.
In fact, in addition to X-Trail, the Nissan Loulan we are familiar with is also a representative model of Nissan's high-end force.
Nissan Loulan can be said to be the first mid-size SUV among non-luxury Japanese brands since entering 2000, and its history is even older than that of Toyota Highlander.
Named after the mysterious Loulan Ancient Kingdom, Nissan Loulan is a medium-sized SUV that integrates the aesthetic charm of the East and the West. This car is very different from the traditional SUV, for example, in that "square era", Lou Lan took the lead in adopting a streamlined design, known for its feminine and elegant style.
Of course, as the "number one player" in nissan city SUVs, Lou Lan also put comfort and luxury to death. This SUV, which was born fifteen years ago, has a series of advanced configurations at that time, such as seat memory, partitioned thermostatic air conditioning, all-round airbags, and GPS navigation.
At the same time, the car is also equipped with a 3.5L V6 engine and is equipped with a CVT transmission. From the traditional cognition, the CVT gearbox equipped with a large displacement engine is definitely a "weird" combination, after all, the maximum torque of the 3.5L engine of the original Loulan reached 333N·m, and the ordinary CVT is difficult to withstand this torque.
In order to make the CVT transmission more reliable, "TechNiksan" not only strengthened the steel belt transmission structure, but also created a set of "starting gears" for it. At low speeds, in order to increase the engine speed as soon as possible, the engine is not connected to the CVT's tapered wheels, but a gear structure similar to that of an AT transmission. This design greatly optimizes the smoothness of Lou Lan at the start, and also ensures the smoothness of this high-end SUV during driving. Until now, Nissan's models have also widely used this type of transmission.
In 2022
Another year of Nissan's high-end SUV
2021 is a year to remember for Nissan. During the year, the VC-Turbo ultra-variable engine had a wider range of applications; in this year, Nissan consolidated Infiniti's "Nissan PLUS strategy." When the time came to the beginning of 2022, Infiniti, as the "Nissan PLUS", once again sounded the horn of high-end SUVs - the release of medium and large luxury SUV Infiniti QX60.
In fact, the Infiniti QX60 is more like Nissan's "pathfinder". Because in this year, Dongfeng Nissan will introduce the twin model of the QX60, the Nissan Pathfinder. As a "youth version" of the QX60, Nissan Pathfinder will point the finger at the Toyota Highlander, volkswagen Tuon and Buick Encore flags.
In fact, from the current situation, several family cars under the Japanese product brand have good sales, and the medium and large SUV market has become saturated and has become a "stock market". So why did Nissan introduce Pathfinder?
According to the author's analysis, the biggest reason behind this is that Nissan hopes to revitalize high-end SUV models, take over the baton of Loulan, and make Nissan's high-end SUV models truly have excellent competitiveness, so that the entire brand can return to high-end.
Of course, Pathfinder is also a really powerful product. Taking the US model and the Infiniti QX60 as an example, Pathfinder will become the "hegemon" in the domestic medium and large SUV market with a length of more than 5 meters and a wheelbase of more than 2.9 meters. Of course, the new interior design language with more luxurious interior materials will also more thoroughly release the "East-West combination luxury style" advocated by Nissan.
In terms of power system, the Pathfinder introduced by Dongfeng Nissan may not directly use the 3.5L+9AT powertrain of the US version; with reference to the twin brother QX60, Nissan Pathfinder may use a 2.0T super variable engine from the VC-Turbo series, and with a new generation of 9AT transmission.
In fact, from the performance of the entire product force, if Dongfeng Nissan Pathfinder is built according to the DESIGN of the US version of the model plus VC-Turbo power, its competitiveness will not be bad. As a medium-sized SUV with few weaknesses, if the price is reasonable, the Toyota Highlander and the Crown Land release are estimated to have to make way for it.
After talking about the new process of high-end in the fuel market, let's talk about new cars in the electrification market. As early as a year or two ago, there was news that Nissan launched a pure electric high-end SUV. At the 2020 Beijing Auto Show, Nissan Ariya officially made its debut in China.
The design of Ariya's new car is completely different from the Nissan SUV that is currently on the market. Judging from the workmanship of the whole vehicle alone, Ariya is actually enough to compete with BBA's pure electric luxury SUV. In addition, coupled with the radical shape and virtualized cockpit atmosphere, Nissan Aria will be a new species that can "wash our eyes".
In addition to the high-end of the design level, what kind of high-end performance or advantage does Nissan Ariya have at the technical level?
First of all, in terms of hardware, Nissan Ariya will take 600km of battery life as its goal, and will inherit the high reliability and high safety quality of Nissan pure electric vehicle models while taking into account power and convenience. At the same time, it is also a model that can bring enough fun, such as the Ariya, although available in a four-wheel drive version, but not a dual-motor four-wheel drive, but from the e-4ORCE technology of four-wheel drive sports cars such as the GT-R. In this regard, Nissan engineers said that this four-wheel drive technology will bring far better performance than the dual motor and the traditional fuel vehicle four-wheel drive system, and we are also looking forward to it.
In addition, Ariya's focus is on intelligent upgrades. Ariya's car has about 30 ECU electronic control units, which control the vehicle's battery management system, drive system, intelligent interaction system, intelligent driving assistance system... Nissan engineers, in addition to equipping it with the most advanced ProPILOT Assist 2.0 and other technologies, have also developed a complete set of electrification architecture, which can keep each ECU electronic control unit up to date and realize the evolution and upgrading of vehicles.
epilogue
In fact, from the early Tule, Loulan and other models, to today's Pathfinder, Ariya, we are very clear: Nissan has the ability to build a high-end SUV.
Especially after seeing the two new SUVs that are about to be launched, everyone laments Nissan's understanding of design and technology. Today, the spring of 2022 has arrived, and the spring of Nissan's high-end SUVs may not be long after.
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