So much has changed across the automotive landscape, yet so much has remained the same – nameplates have risen and fallen, monikers died and were revived, and electrification is upon us.
In America, compact crossover SUVs have taken over the US automotive market after the first six months of the year. They are followed by trucks and large crossovers. Meanwhile, mid-size cars are only fifth on the segment's charts, even behind subcompact CUVs. Thus, logic dictates that automakers are increasingly less reliant on passenger cars and will quickly refocus on crossovers, SUVs, and trucks.
Toyota, for example, has started playing with mixes – the return of the Crown nameplate to America brought with it a new style of crossover-sedan to try and lure customers from both worlds. Nissan, on the other hand, is much more traditional. They have many sedans like the Versa, Sentra, Altima, and Maxima.
And they also have lots of crossovers and SUVs – Kicks, Rogue Sport, Rogue, Murano, Pathfinder, and Armada, plus a trio of trucks (Frontier, Titan, and Titan XD) and even some sports cars (Z, GT-R) or electrics (Leaf, Aryia), but nothing in between. Well, things might change if the rumor mill's latest whisper pans out. According to the Halo oto channel on YouTube, which provides fresh automotive info corroborated with their virtual designs, the Nissan Skyline moniker might be returned to its former glory… as an electrified crossover SUV.
Born in 1957, initially as part of the Prince Motor Company's lineup, the Nissan Skyline nameplate became ultra-famous throughout twelve generations mainly because of its connection with the GT-R high-performance branding. Over the years, the regular Skylines evolved from the compact segment to the mid-size sector and then back to a compact executive lifestyle and was produced in sedan, coupe, station wagon, convertible, and pickup body styles. Of course, the most famous of them all remains the four-door sedan.
But, recently, after the GT-R was disconnected from the Skyline branding, the sedan became a pale shadow of its former self – the thirteenth iteration is just the Infiniti Q50 sedan and nothing else. Now, according to the channel's host, the Japanese automaker is seriously thinking about linking the fourteenth generation's fortunes to a more popular body style – the compact crossover SUV. Another Infiniti – this time, the QX55 would serve as the initial placeholder and share some of the underpinnings with it.
Alas, as far as the powertrain is concerned, the all-new Nissan Skyline CUV – at least its imagined unofficial version showcased in the latest renderings by the channel's pixel master – would be more akin to the European Nissan Qashqai and its electrified e-Power version. The system uses a small inline-three 1.5-liter turbo gasoline engine acting only as a generator, and it doesn't even feature a physical connection to the wheels. So, do you think the next Nissan Skyline will look like this and keep its sporty credentials with e-Power and Nissan's e-4ORCE electric-drive four-wheel-control system?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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