2010 L.A. Show: Nissan returns to west coast in waves

[svgallery name="2010_LA_NIssan"] By John LeBlanc LOS ANGELES – Twelve months ago, right here in the bowels of L.A.’s massive Convention Centre, Nissan didn’t even bother to have a press conference. This year, it arguably stole the show (so far) with a herd of new metal, including a refreshed GT-R supercar, new Quest minivan, a hybrid sedan concept that hints at the next Altima sedan, and a quirky, convertible SUV. The relatively conventional fourth-gen Quest (below left) will arrive next year in Canada to take on a once-thought-dead minivan segment. While the refreshed GT-R supercar (below right) gets 530 hp (versus the previous 485), a new “Black Edition,” and subtle exterior and interior bits. The convertible SUV, the Murano CrossCabriolet,*below centre) audacious as it may be, isn’t coming to Canada, yet. With ghosts of the ill-fated Renault Vel Satis dancing in my head, the pricey ($46,390 U.S.) two-door, clothtop convertible version of the mid-size Nissan SUV was primarily designed for the far-out-man California market. If Nissan is happy with sales, it may come to Canada. All good stuff. But the most significant Nissan debut was the front-wheel drive Ellure hybrid sedan concept; a precursor to what the next Altima sedan will look like. More interesting, though, the concept also comes with a future supercharged 2.5-litre gas-four with what Nissan calls an Intelligent Dual Clutch Control (one motor/two clutch design with lithium-ion battery) and 25 kW electric motor, hooked up to CVT. And just to make sure your neighbours know the Ellure/Altima is polar-bear friendly, it wears a “PURE DRIVE” badge showing it would be “part of Nissan’s range of low CO2/low fuel consumption internal combustion engine or hybrid vehicles.” Over at Nissan's premium Infiniti brand, another so-called “mild hybrid”, the 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid sedan (which will come to Canada) sandwiches an electric motor between a 3.5-litre V6 and seven-speed automatic transmission via a two-clutch system (similar to the system in the Volkswagen Touareg). The electric motor adds 67 hp and 199 lb-ft of torque, resulting in a theoretical total of 369 hp and 457 lb-ft of torque when combined with the V6.

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