Feb. 03--Nissan broadcast its racing ambitions and sensitivity to work-life balance in a 90-second commercial during Super Bowl XLIX. It also debuted two new cars, the GT-R LM Nismo race car destined for this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the first glimpses of the redesigned 2016 Nissan Maxima.
Nissan optimized its 18-year haitus from big bowl ads with a spot that featured a husband and wife raising a son, but as the race-car-driver husband ascends the race circuit in all manner of Nismo, he misses out on the quieter aging of his family. Set to Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle," the ad juxtaposed the sentimental with the adrenal. At the end he picks his teenage son up in the Maxima, which is the first public viewing of the "sports sedan."
The GT-R LM Nismo will grace the stage at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show as the centerpiece of the Nismo pit, which will include the performance editions of 370Z, Juke, Juke RS, and two concepts, the Sentra Nismo and an undisclosed Nismo street concept. The GT-R LM Nismo is a front-engined, front-wheel drive race powered by a 3.0-liter twin turbo V-6 with a kinetic energy recovery system, and will vie for the attention of showgoers amidst the Ford GT and Acura NSX supercars.
The 2016 Nissan Maxima will debut at the New York International Auto Show, which takes place in early April.
The Maxima was last redesigned for model year 2009 and also launched in New York. Last year at the Detroit Auto Show, Nissan unveiled its Sport Sedan Concept, which is expected to be the next Maxima.
Editor's note: This article was updated February 3 after Nissan announced it would debut the 2016 Maxima at the New York International Auto Show.
