17/07/2008 16:08. Raleigh-Durham N.C. - As Nissan introduces the seventh-generation Maxima, it wants to make sure you don't think it's an Altima.

The two vehicles share a platform, but that's not a bad thing when the platform's as good as this one. The Maxima is a very different car, something that wasn't quite so true with the previous generation. Mark Perry runs the sedan program for Nissan in America, and he stressed this point, as well as the fact that the company knew it, too.

"The last generation of car ... was too much like the Altima," he said.

The marketing campaign for the new version is bringing back Nissan's old tagline for the Maxima: "the 4-door sports car." The Maxima is the flagship of the Nissan lineup, so it had to get bigger, although they shaved two inches off the length and made... // Norristown Times Herald