Nissan Vmotion 2.0 concept hints at future sedan and autonomy plans
In case you didn't know, the grille design on most of Nissan's current production cars is called "V-Motion," first revealed on the 2014 Sport Sedan Concept. The present Vmotion 2.0 concept doesn't put the grille at the front of the car, the grille is the front of the car, flanked by canted, flamboyant intakes. Hints of the Maxima's "Emotional Geometry" lines remain in the profile, but sheetmetal flowing out of the vent on the front door cribs from the GT-R, assuming Godzilla were on a near-fatal steroid regime. Size-wise, the Vmotion 2.0 occupies a Maxima footprint, 1.5 inches shorter and 1.2 inches wider than the production sedan, on a wheelbase that's 2.9 inches longer. A carbon finisher with silver threads accentuates the floating roof, the copper-infused silver paint changes color depending on your perspective.The Altima is essentially the same size as the Maxima, and thus dimensionally close to the Vmotion 2.0. It's likely we'll see some of the concept car's design cues on the next generation of Nissan's mainstream family sedan.
Rear suicide doors combine w ith the absence of a B-pillar to flaunt the interior. This matters because Nissan says it's coming sedans will be "futuristic, dynamic, and more cabin-focused." Having penned these quarters for "tomorrow's busy professionals" who appreciate luxury, we find patterned leather seats that form a part of the Bose stereo system, a Zebra Wood floor, and a steering wheel with its top cut off. That aviation-inspired yoke permits both driver and passenger an unimpeded view of the panoramic display atop the instrument panel. Rear occupants get a smaller screen set on the center tunnel between the seats.
Someday the lengthy display screen could broadcast data from the sedan's ProPILOT autonomous mode. A piece of tech within Nissan's Intelligent Mobility plan, ProPILOT would work on highways, in cities, and "on urban roads with intersections" - but the company doesn't explain how the system knows how to play Red Light/Green Light. The company w ants to get to zero emissions and zero fatalities, and Nissan might want the world to know you're contributing to the cause: the Nissan logo on the grille of the Vmotion 2.0 concept, and the rear diffuser, both glow when the sedan drives itself in ProPILOT mode.
Nissan's pattern with concept cars like the Vmotion 2.0 is to set design hints for a future production car, rather than act as a thinly-veiled version of the production car (like the Audi Q8 concept, for instance). How much of the big grille and beefy crease will translate to the showroom remains to be seen, but the ProPILOT external visuals on the Vmotion 2.0 are probably exactly what we'll see on the self-driving Nissans of the near future.