SMYRNA, Tenn. — Nissan on Tuesday launched the production of a redesigned version of its flagship Maxima sedan that the Japanese automaker hopes will revive flagging sales.
Nissan stresses a sportier approach taken for the eighth generation of the Maxima as the company seeks to reverse a trend of struggling sales for large sedans in in recent years.
While large cars made up 5 percent of the U.S. new car market in 2000, they dropped to just 2 percent of the market last year, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank.
They have been squeezed at one end by midsize cars that have become larger and more luxurious and on the other end by the increasing popularity of small SUVs.
Between 1994 and 2000, Nissan regularly sold more than 120,000 Maximas a year, peaking at 131,182 sold in 1999. But fewer than 60,000 Maximas have been sold annually since the year after the last redesign in 2009.
By contrast, Nissan sold more than 335,000 midsize Altimas and nearly 200,000 Rogue SUVs last year, according to Autodata Corp.
More than 8,400 people work at the Nissan plant that built 648,000 vehicles last year, making it the highest-producing plant in North America. The plant, which opened in 1983, makes the Altima, Maxima, Leaf, Rogue, Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60.
Nissan last month announced plans to build a new 1.5 million-square-foot logistics center next to the plant by the end of 2017.
Nissan North America Chairman Jose Munoz has called the supplier park a key component in the company’s drive toward capturing 10 percent of the U.S. market share.
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