No, this is not a concept car and you’re looking at a production Nissan sedan. Conceived for the Chinese consumer in his 20s and 30s, the Nissan Lannia’s design development was led by Nissan Design China, riding on the experience and capabilities of the Nissan Global Design Center. In short, it’s by the Chinese for the Chinese. The name lan niao is in honour of the Nissan Bluebird.
The Lannia evolved from the Friend-ME Concept and Lannia Concept which debuted in China in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Inspired by the “smooth, muscular movements of wild animals” the sedan features “dynamic, tensional, yet edgy surfaces” and highlights such as the V-motion grille, kick-up C-pillar, floating roof and boomerang-shaped LED lights, cues also seen on the bold 2016 Nissan Maxima.
It’s a little more conventional inside, where there’s a driver-centric cockpit with plenty of red trim. Connectivity was a key focus in the Lannia’s development, and it features integrated infotainment tech including an “advanced audio system” with smartphone connectivity and a seven-inch display. The system was developed by Nissan’s R&D team in China and it will be available exclusively in the world’s biggest car market.
To also feature Nissan’s Safety Shield tech and achieve competitive levels of fuel efficiency, the Nissan Lannia sedan will go on sale in China towards the end of 2015.
Wacky one-offs aside, Nissan has never really been associated with bold designs, but the new Maxima and this Lannia are signs of the company’s new design focus on the young and young at heart, moving away from today’s safe, inoffensive designs. Like what you see?
