Report: Nissan Maxima Dead in 2023

Surprising exactly no one, Nissan has confirmed to a California-based automotive outlet that the Nissan Maxima will shuffle off this mortal coil in about a year’s time in mid-2023. While this news isn’t unexpected, it is still a bit sad for those of us who remember when the Maxima lived up to its name as a Four-Door Sports Car.

Dan Passe, spox for Nissan, confirmed these details to The Car Connection earlier today.

"The current-generation Maxima will end production in the middle of 2023," he explained to the site. Speculation exists about the nameplate returning in some form as an EV but it’s safe to say that, if the model does return, it won’t look anything like the Maxima of old.

Those of you with long memories will recall the days when the 4DSC moniker was loudly touted by Nissan and applied to a car that mostly had the mouth to match its trousers. The third-gen car, a handsome and squared-off thing, was offered with a 24-valve V6 featuring aluminum heads and could be paired with a five-speed manual transmission. Spec’d correctly, it was something of a stealthy weapon.

In fact, a manual transmission was available well into this millennium, with the sixth-gen Maxima able to be fitted with a hand shaker. Your author will cop to a certain affinity for that particular iteration of Maxima, by the way, despite the brand’s weirdo dalliance with that belt-buckle grille. This was the era of Maxima which came with a SkyView glass roof comprised of two fixed panels with ran the length, not width, of the car. Think of racing stripes on the roof made of glass and you’ve got the general idea. It was wonderfully weird. For a spell, the Maxima could even be fitted with two bucket-style seats bifurcated with a tall console in the rear passenger compartment, binning the traditional bench.

Recently, Nissan hasn’t paid much mind – or marketing – to the Maxima. Demand for this type of body style has surely waned in the last decade, with the majority of American rushing to SUVs and crossover-type vehicles. Year to date, for example, Nissan has moved 3,753 Maxima sedans compared to 87,675 Rogue crossovers. If you’re wondering, the company claims the Altima found 78,610 buyers.

Alert readers will note the Altima has grown in size to essentially usurp the Maxima, of course. Even if the exterior dimensions of the two brothers are not directly comparable, the practical space inside both vehicles is nearly identical. It’s been ages since the Max could genuinely represent itself as the 4DSC, so I’ll be pouring one out tonight for what I remember as the Maxima’s glory days.

[Photos: Nissan]

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