Nissan set to kill traditional sedan

Nissan's global design boss has signalled the death of the traditional three-box sedan, strongly indicating the next Altima will conform to more coupe-like styling form.

The Japanese brand unveiled its Vmotion 2.0 concept at the Detroit motor show, which it said "signals the company's future sedan design direction" for next-generation models including the Altima medium sedan currently offered in Australia.

Nissan global design executive director Mamoru Aoki exclusively revealed to Drive that every future sedan from the brand should become sexier and more coupe-like in order to combat the decline in passenger sedan sales globally.

Asked whether the coupe-like roofline of the Vmotion 2.0 concept would be seen in a next-gen Altima, Aoki replied: "Yes, I think so, it has to be more elegant and sporty."

"If we minimise the floor height the roofline can be faster, in the case of ICE [Internal Combustion Engine] gasoline," he nominated as a way of harnessing the rear headroom of a traditional three-box sedan.

Nissan senior vice president and chief creative officer Shiro Nakimura agreed, insisting that future sedans from the brand must transform their appearance.

"We would like to show the next design from Nissan and show also what we can offer the sedan and how we can make it more attractive," he said.

"Of course the sedan is very established segment, but we can push forward to make it more emotional and attractive."

Each Nissan executive agreed that the brand's design portfolio must also become more harmonised in the future. In Australia, the slow-selling Thailand-sourced Altima continues with a superseded design compared with the model built in the United States. The Pulsar sedan - Sentra in the US - also utilises a different design theme to Europe's Pulsar hatch.

"I think [in the future] we are much more combining of the global design than today, I don't think there will be an issue," promised Nakimura.

"One by one, we cannot do it in one year, so we are taking a little more time to make more consistent global design and which means actually our product portfolio will become much more global."

Asked whether the design of the next-gen Altima would be harmonised across all markets globally, the executive vice president and chief creative officer replied: "Definitely, that is the direction we are going, and you will see what I'm saying in another few years."

Aoki further added: "We are trying, gradually, we are not yet there with Australia but for the future all the global range will have the same design vocabulary."

He listed a supersized V-motion grille, sharper side creases rising in the case of the sedan towards the tail and a swoopier roofline as a trio of elements that will filter through to next-gen Nissans, pointing to the more rounded lines of the Murano, X-Trail and Qashqai as examples of design elements that will be replaced.

"This is showing the next-gen of Nissan, all Nissan range," he continued, pointing to the Vmotion 2.0 concept.

"This is much more dynamic, sharper and three-dimensional."

But swoopier sedan proportions may even be short-lived as Nissan forecasts the rise of electric cars will continue.

Aoki suggests that underfloor battery packs would push the cabin floor higher, and the lack of a bulky petrol or diesel engine up front means that the bonnet length could be reduced and the wheelbase extended to increase cabin space.

"This is a typical sedan, it has a nose and deck," Aoki started.

"But sedan's appearance might be changed. Customer is the same, but I'm talking about EV [electric vehicle] which could give it new proportions. The battery has to be in the floor, so it [the floor] has to be higher and taller, but we can extend the wheelbase and create a very short nose to create a new sedan."

Inside, future Nissan sedans should be "simpler, roomier, with harmonious elegance" according to the global design executive director.

"Especially for autonomous cars, people can relax inside the car. The environment has to be much more relaxed."

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