Did you guys see Nissan/Infiniti sales numbers released last week. The G35 seems to be slaughtering the I35 on the Infiniti side of the house. I30/I35 sales are down hideously. Interestingly enough, despite the Altima, Maxima sales are still up a little bit over 3%. Altima sales are up like 40%, ridiculous growth there...but not killing of the Maxima, in its current form, like a lot of people thought it would.

 

I wonder what car manufacturer we're stealing business from. Toyota? I mean the big lexuses are ugly as $hit and so are the camrys.....

 

From my observations this weekend I would agree. Whenever I get caught in the shore traffic I look at all the cars. I saw a bunch of V6 Altimas, more than the 4-cyl (look at the tailpipes). The Alty does look good from the rear. The I35 is not too good-looking for a 2k2. It doesn't have the odd look of the Maxima at the rear, but it still appears narrow and low in the back. G35 is more like the Altima, modern-looking. Price will always keep Maxima's going imho, because not everyone has to have the latest look in their car, just like buying a home. Sometimes people buy really ugly houses in bad locations, but they believe that when they shut the doors they can make it nice inside. maxima is sort of like that house. To tell you the truth, I saw 3.5 Alty and a 530i side by side, and no question the Alty looks more modern. Alty is not bad.

 

the i35 numbers arent surprising

 

I don't think "we" are stealing business from Lexus, although I think Nissan/Infiniti has been pretty good about stealing some Camry sales every once and a while. The big Lexus LS430 is not going to be touched by the Q45 in my opinion. That Lexus is just an enormous luxury boat. Ugly or not, that is a symbol of the opulent sedan. The Q45 is not in the same class...still a little smaller and and not the big luxury family car from hell that the LS is. The Q might be damaging the 5-series market a little bit, I'm sure it is shredding the Acura RS.

I'm just glad to see Nissan/Infiniti sales up so nicely in this economy...the more Nissan NA sells, the more attention the States will get as time progresses.

 

id take a q45 over an ls430 any day

 

I don't see the Maxima sales being up. From the press releases it was obvious that sales at both Nissan and Infiniti are dramatically down across the board except for two cars, the Altima and the G35. Despite having an extra selling day for July (25 vs. 24), G20 sales are off 73.9%, I30/I35 sales are off 23.5%, Q45 sales are off 17%. For Nissan, Sentra sales are slightly up 5% (extra selling day?), while Maxima sales are off 14.7%. Truck sales are all down, ranging from -10.7% for the Frontier to -48.1% for the Quest. Due to the impressive Altima sales (up 56.1%) overall sales are up 2.4%. So yes, the Maxima sales are not as depressed as the I35 sales but definitely not up.

 

Maxima sales are up 3.3% compared to last calendar year at this point. Across the Sentra, Maxima, and Altima sales are up 18.8% from last year at this point. Maxima had a bad month in July, off 14.7% from last July, but YTD is still doing well.

 

I guess we were looking at different numbers, YTD vs. July sales. I disagree that the Maxima had a bad month, it had another bad month. I see the negative sales momentum of the Maxima sales not slowing down at all. In May, Maxima sales were down 31.5%, when Altima sales were up 42.6%. At that time, Maxima YTD sales were up 9.7%. In June, Maxima sales were off 12.2% while Altima sales were up 39.4%. By then, Maxima YTD sales were up only 6.2%. You already know the figures for July. I would predict that we'll see YTD negative numbers by September.

 

I think G35 will be affecting Acura. Since it's pretty much a lot better car for about the same price as a 3.2TL-S, and I think lots of people that perhaps would want a CL are looking at G35 or G35 coupe coming up.

 

Seeing as Lexus is the top selling luxury brand in the USA and is setting sales records month after month, it ain't Lexus they are stealing from.

They are stealing from themselves. I35 potential buyers are now buying the G35.

They are selling a lil over 3k G35 a month, Lexus sold 7k ES 300s last month, Acura sold 5k TLs last month. The IS 300 is not a high volume car and not intended to be.