- Thinking

                           Some industry commentators call Nissan zealous, even overzealous, but Nissan know that settling for just any solution is just that: settling. It's also the fastest way to go from being an automotive company driven by imagination to just another automotive company. That's why Nissan thinks beyond the answer and asks new questions. Only through this process of constant challenge can real improvement occur.

Design

How does Nissan connect with drivers? Through design. In the words of Nissan Design Director Shiro Nakamura, design is the most vital point of contact between the manufacturer and you. If there's one design methodology that guides us consistently, it's this: The most successful and widely loved products are those created with the most specific individual in mind.

Our case in point: the Nissan X-TRAIL. Design development began at surf spots, trailheads, and kayak put-ins. Nissan product research was conducted at places that Nissan thought outdoor enthusiasts would most likley take their 4WDs. Once we got there, we saw more station wagons, trucks and vans (mostly reconfigured with shelves, cords, mats etc).

Realising that many 4WDs were either too plush or too toy-like for the people we met, Nissan designers and engineers returned to the studio on a mission to create something just for them.

The Nissan X-TRAIL was born out of our Japanese design studio. Other Nissan models are a global collaboration among Nissan's design centres in Europe and North America.

As for the Nissan Z, its potent mix of pure sports car DNA and ultra-modern thinking is the product of a vision shared by true believers throughout Nissan's worldwide community.

Performance

How can Nissan move you? From city streets to wide-open spaces and around every bend life throws your way, Nissan thinks about how to move you. Regardless of the setting, Nissan aims to move you with responsiveness, agility, and a spirit that is definitively Nissan.

You'll feel the Nissan passion for performance every time you get behind the wheel of a Nissan vehicle.

All Nissan vehicles share impressive power, sensitive steering, and inspired handling, adding up to a lively give and take between you, the car, and any road you choose.

We realise that you may not consider yourself an enthusiast but maybe you simply haven't driven a Nissan - yet.

Technology

How does Nissan make it all possible? With the fusion of Nissan's performance-based technology and expert engineering for human benefit.

Consider Maxima's award-winning V6 engine, propelled by Nissan's own VQ technology. Nissan started with a lightweight aluminium-alloy block and cylinder head, then added other lightweight components, and used advanced friction-reducing techniques like Formula One-inspired microfinishing.

As for that connected-to-the-road feeling you get with every Nissan, credit Nissan's advanced suspension systems and, in some cases, what are usually high-performance after-market items like strut tower braces. Nissan's reputation for groundbreaking technology is in fact global, with standouts like the Nissan Continuously Variable Transmission.

With all this, and our most exciting model line-up ever, stay tuned as Nissan takes the driving experience into a whole new paradigm.

Safety

How can Nissan make you feel secure?

Triple Safety is a systematic approach that guides every Nissan built. Triple Safety focuses on three core areas: information, control and impact.

Firstly, Nissan enhances your ability to see and assess the visual information around you with features that range from easy to read information displays, height adjustable seating and vehicles designed to maximise visibility and on-road awareness of others. Look for these subtle but powerful features next time you are in a Nissan vehicle.

Secondly, Nissan provides a range of control-related technologies, which help ensure the vehicle responds faithfully to your commands, range from ABS (anti-lock brakes) and traction-control systems to the tight, agile suspensions that also make Nissans so much fun to drive.

Thirdly, all of this is an effort to help you avoid an accident altogether, even though we know that isn't always possible. Nissan also devotes an enormous amount of energy and resources to impact protection. This encompasses energy-absorbing elements like crumple zones and door beams, as well as up-to-date restraint systems like second generation air bags, side-impact air bags, side curtain air bags and front seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters.

In all, every Nissan comes equipped with a range of standard safety features, each one the result of our commitment to the Nissan Triple Safety philosophy.

Environment

How can Nissan make your world greener? By making a sincere commitment to the development of ecologically minded transportation with every Nissan built.

Nissan already has two electric vehicles in production in North America, the ALTRA EV and HYPERMINI, as well as a hybrid electric, Japan's TINO HYBRID. As for the ALTRA EV, a spacious 4-passenger vehicle with a 75-mph maximum speed, it's the first production electric vehicle to use state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries. The result is up to an 80-mile "real-world" range and a 5-hour recharge time.

Nissan recently joined the California Fuel Cell Partnership to advance this new automobile technology that could move the world toward practical and affordable environmental solutions. The partnership will place about 50 fuel cell passenger cars and fuel cell buses on the road.

Nissan is also doing its part when it comes to the range of Nissan cars and 4WDs, and Nissan's efforts haven't gone unnoticed. For the innovations in improving fuel economy and reducing ozone-depleting hydrofluorocarbons, Nissan received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 1999 Climate Protection Award.

Nissan is the only automaker to receive such a commendation.

Click hereto return to the top of Nissan Thinking