Nissan Shows 2016 Maxima During Super Bowl Ad

2016 Nissan Maxima

Nissan had a big surprise for us today with its 90-second Super Bowl spot titled "With Dad", as it gave us our first official look at the production 2016 Maxima sedan. 

Our initial take is that Nissan took the Sports Sedan Concept from the 2013 Detroit Auto Show and turned it into a more realistic and family-friendly (taller, more bloated with practical instead of fancy details like the door handles) sedan with a sporty aura. Okay, it’s probably the other way around (the production design preceded the study), but you get what we mean.

The cameo appearance was not accompanied by any details whatsoever, but it's believed that, like the concept, the production 2016 Maxima will get a revised 3.5-liter V6 gasoline engine with over 300hp and possibly offer a similar version of the Pathfinder's hybrid unit that pairs Pathfinder's 2.5-liter supercharged four to an electric motor.

2016 Nissan Maxima

"Details on the upcoming Nissan sports sedan, which appears briefly in the spot, will be announced in the near future," said the automaker in a statement. 

Also shown for the first time ever in the TV spot was Nissan's new GT-R LM NISMO that will contest the LM P1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. It's powered by a 3.0-liter V6 twin-turbo gasoline engine and a kinetic energy recovery system with a combined output of around 1,250 horsepower under race conditions.