The North American version of the Murano
Laying the groundwork for the release of the Murano, Dongfeng Nissan's previous two SUV models, the X-Trail and Qashqai, both enjoyed recent robust sales of over 10,000 units per month in China, giving this latest model a fairly tough act to follow.
The Murano line was born in December 2002, and the ensuing eight years saw two generations of the sturdy ride: the first, Z50, produced between 2002 and 2007, during the height of the North American SUV boom, and the second, Z51, released during the 2007 Los Angeles auto show and hitting the North American market in January 2008. Despite the overall decline in car sales around that time, the Z51 was considered a success and was expanded into Asian and European markets subsequently.
The Murano we'll see in China is based on the Z51, which came in two versions in its overseas incarnation: Standard
and convertible, though it's unknown whether we'll get the convertible version here.
The car's design hews closely to the standard luxury sports-car SUV style found in such models as Infinity's FX or EX.
One significant difference is that the Murano features a front engine, instead of the longitudinal variety found in the Infinity vehicles, making the former a more spacious ride.
Analysts predict the Murano will be a major rival for the Toyota Highlander SUV here in the Chinese mainland. It will hit the market in the second half of this year, with an expected sticker price starting around 300,000 yuan ($46,385).