(Worldcarfans) - Looking almost identical to the Infiniti EX Concept revealed in New York this past April, Nissan released details today of the production model which makes its formal debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in two days. With US sales starting this December, the EX35 European sales won't begin until autumn 2008.
The EX35 encompasses a couple new technologies for Nissan. They include Around View Monitor (AVM) which provides an impressive "top-down" bird's eye view of the vehicle by utilizing four cameras, Lane Departure Prevention (LDP) system and Scratch Shield paint, which is a "self- healing" layer of special clearcoat mixed with elastic resin. As a result, minor scratches gradually disappear by themselves over the course of one day to a week depending on outside temperatures. I'd like to see some time lapse video footage on this one.
The highly acclaimed fourth generation VQ35HR 3.5 liter V6 engine currently used in the G35 coupe/salonn is good for a healthy 290hp. But the big news here is that this engine is standard with Nissan's ATTESA E-TS (Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All Electronic Torque Split) all-wheel drive system!
Although, Nissan USA calls the EX35 a Crossover SUV, their European press release is riddled with the word "coupe". Given the recent court victory over BMW regarding the usage of the letter M as a brand logo, perhaps Nissan is getting in one last jab to the kidney as BMW ready their hyped X6 Coupe SUV. Nissan states, "...it is difficult to find any direct rivals for the EX being arguably the first of a new wave of coupe crossovers. But looking at other cars available currently, the EX might be lined up against rivals as diverse as the BMW X3 3.0si and Audi A4 3.2FSI quattro avant." Surely, a severe case of over-interpretation on my part, but nonetheless, it sounds a bit over confident.