Detroit Motor Show – Every once in a while Nissan, usually regarded as the most conservative of the big Japanese carmakers, surprises us with something special.
Here’s a case in point: the Vmotion 2.0 concept. Revealed this week at Detroit, it offers a glimpse of Nissan’s future design direction as well as its vision for Intelligent Mobility – autonomous technology that will gradually take over most of the functions of driving.
The concept plays into Nissan’s quest for both zero emissions and zero fatalities – the lighting around the front Nissan emblem and the rear diffuser glows when the car is in self-driving mode.
Its fashionably tapered roofline – emphasised by a carbon-fibre finisher with moulded-in silver threads – puts it midway between a sedan and a fastback ‘four-door coupé’ – but the chunky front treatment takes the signature ‘V-motion’ front treatment seen on the current Murano and Maxima a step further, morphing into a crisp shoulder edge that outlines the whole body.
Colour shift
It’s finished in a silver metallic paint with copper undertones, layered to change colour depending on where the light is coming from.
The front and rear doors swing outward, creating a pillar-less open space, while the dashboard integrates the instrument panel and infotainment system in a single continuous horizontal display for the driver and front-seat passenger. The centre console also has a second, smaller screen, which can serve as an extension of the main display.
The seats are trimmed in supple leather with special threadless quilting on the inserts that's meant to look like an expensive handbag, while the half-circle steering wheel is designed to allow the driver and passenger to see all the display infotainment without any interruption. The centre console also has a multi-functional touchpad to operate the infotainment system, which includes a new Bose audio set-up with UltraNearfield 360 degree sound field speakers.