Nissan to sell Mazda Premacy van in May

[coolmazda5]

Mazda Motor Corp. will begin supplying its Premacy minivan to Nissan Motor Co. in May for sale under the Nissan brand, the two automakers said Friday.

Nissan and Mazda currently supply commercial vehicles to each other under an original equipment manufacturing deal, but this is the first time the two automakers will go this route with a car.

Nissan has been procuring minivehicles from Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. This is the first time it will be supplied with a full-size car.

"Through this agreement, Nissan will enrich its minivan lineup in the Japanese market with the addition of a model based on Mazda's global minivan," which is sold as the Mazda5 outside Japan, the two firms said in a statement.

Mazda said it will supply a different version of the minivan to Nissan for sale in Japan. Nissan said it will start selling the minivan in May.

The seven-seater Premacy, equipped with a function that automatically stops the engine when the vehicle comes to a stop and restarts it immediately, gets 16.0 km per liter.

Mazda currently provides the Bong van and truck to Nissan, which sells them as the Nissan Vanette van and truck, while Nissan supplies the AD/AD Expert to Mazda, which sells it as the Mazda Familia van.


[The Japan Times Online]

 

[Rocket]

Mazda makes great cars but they don't have a substantial distribution (dealer) network. When Ford sold off their stake it was inevitable that Mazda had to find another distribution partner. Long term I expect Mazda to be absorbed by a larger competitor, with only the Miata and perhaps the 5 surviving. That's right, the 3 will not make the cut...

 

[Heat]

...Mazda currently provides the Bong van and truck to Nissan ...

Isn't this what Cheech and Chong were driving in the movie "Still Smoking"?

 

[DKaz]

Bongo! Not Bong! LMAO. Chalk this up as another car I wish we had here. I can live with the 90s styling as long as it has 21st century advances under the hood.

 

[coolmazda5]

LOL, good catch (stoned)

That Bongo looks like a VW multivan

 

[mazdadude]

SEE!!! THAT is the Mazda I want! JEALOUS!!!!!

I think that VW had the original BONG van with the Westfalia/ Multivan.

I have not seen the interior on one of these Bongo's, is there a fridge, sink, stove as well?

 

[coolmazda5]

^^ I believe it is more of a utilitarian van from the factory. The one above might be an aftermarket conversion of a previous model?

http://www.bongo.mazda.co.jp/van/

 

[coolmazda5]

Nissan Japan has put up a teaser page of their new Nissan Lafesta on their webpage. This new Lafesta is essentially a rebadged Mazda 5, known as the Mazda Premacy in Japan.

It actually looks pretty good even better than the original in fact, since Nissan has elected to remove those wavy lines at the side of the original Mazda 5. No specs yet but we think the engine will be one and the same as the Mazda, as there would be no point to reengineer the MPV to accept a Nissan engine.

[Paul Tan Automotive News]

 

[coolmazda5]

I like it, no swirls and an actual grille!

 

[Dyx]

I can't wait to see what the new Mazda design language would bring to the Mazda5 looks...

 

[Silentnoise713]

This looks SO much better! Even better than the C-Max. 2012 Mazda5 needs an aftermarket bumper.

Funny they didn't change the steering wheel to follow their design. A+.

 

[Sounbwoy]

I find this interesting. All the more so since Nissan won the contract to provide cabs for NYC...So is this a modified 5 or a Nissan design. If a Nissan design, why not just use that? Or is this based on the new Quest?
NYC Cab
New Nissan Quest

 

[DKaz]

Because they required a commercial grade vehicle, not personal one, plus it had to be fuel efficient.

Not like Vancouver where Corolla and Priuses make up 75% of our taxi fleet. lol.

 

[meGrimlock]

lafesta looks a little bit more refined, but has lost any sort of spirit or sense of motion in its design. like a declawed housecat...and i'd rather have the full on cougar. nissan still can't find a unified design language, which i feel has some pros and cons. however the big con is the lack of brand identity.

 

[Heat]

Speaking of Nissan, the Nissan NV200 was just chosen as the new New York Taxi. The order calls for 18,000 of them by 2018.

For it’s New York layout it will only have five seats but the Japanese version has seven seats. The New York version will have the glass (panoramic) ceiling and a GPS screen in front of the passengers. I don’t know if this will be marketed to consumers, but it’s possible. The Taxi-equipped version costs $29,000.

And yes, those rear doors are sliding doors.

Attached is a picture of the interior of the then-proposed cab. Remember that the cab will be a 5-seater.

 

[flcruising]

lafesta looks a little bit more refined, but has lost any sort of spirit or sense of motion in its design. like a declawed housecat...and i'd rather have the full on cougar.

To me, this is the detraction of the 2012 Mz5.

nissan still can't find a unified design language, which i feel has some pros and cons. however the big con is the lack of brand identity.

I agree. The brand identity is what has lost me personally with them. Boring is the word to describe most of their vehicles imo, like Honda's. My first car was an '87 Maxima that was reliable yet ugly, but the refinement of this thing is most attractive about it.

 

[coolmazda5]

Look Familiar? Nissans New Lafesta Highway Star Is Facelifted Mazda5

​

Ever wonder what a 2012 Mazda5 would look like with a conservatively-designed front fascia and without the wild waves that carry across its sides? The answer may lie with the new Nissan Lafesta Highway Star — which, for all intents and purposes, is simply a rebadged Mazda5.

In January, we reported that Nissan had inked a deal with Mazda that would have the Hiroshima-based automaker supplying Nissan with variants of the Mazda5 mini-minivan. Odd? Perhaps, but Nissan felt the 5 somehow filled a gap in its domestic van lineup, although it already has a few models (notably the Serena C26) that are similar in both size, shape, and seating.

Nevertheless, the Lafesta Highway Star is now part of Nissan’s Japanese portfolio. For the most part, the van is identical to the Japanese-spec Mazda5 (aka Premacy), with a few small exceptions. First, Mazda’s clown-faced grille is no more, replaced by a stoic yet stylish three-bar grille and a chiseled front fascia. Second, Mazda’s so-called Nagare accents — waves that ran into the front door stampings — are gone.

While U.S.-spec Mazda5s receive the same 2.5-liter I-4 found in the Mazda3, the Highway Star uses Mazda’s direct-injection 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. Buyers have their choice of both front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive; opting for the latter replaces the standard five-speed automatic transmission (which also sports a stop/start function) with a four-speed automatic.

Depending on the trim level, Nissan’s pricing currently has the Highway Star either on par with a comparable Mazda5, or ringing in at an extra $4000. Even so, Nissan expects to sell roughly 1200 units a month. Is there that much demand for a Mazda5 without the silly sheetmetal ripples? Only time will tell.



[MotorTrend]

 

[coolmazda5]

"Nissan Lafesta Highway Star" Holly long name Batman, good thing the liftgate badging was cropped...

 

[chitownpete]

. Is there that much demand for a Mazda5 without the silly sheetmetal ripples? Only time will tell.

I guess the writer didn't notice the "silly sheetmetal ripples" on the car in the picture. I give them credit for getting rid of the hideous rear tail lights but the grill is just as boring as the previous gen. Mazda 5. Unfortunately Nissan dealers (along with Ford) in this area are the biggest scammers around and I can't get them to take my money, out of 4 attempts I have only been able to buy 1 Nissan.

 

[Silentnoise713]

. Is there that much demand for a Mazda5 without the silly sheetmetal ripples? Only time will tell.

I guess the writer didn't notice the "silly sheetmetal ripples" on the car in the picture. I give them credit for getting rid of the hideous rear tail lights but the grill is just as boring as the previous gen. Mazda 5. Unfortunately Nissan dealers (along with Ford) in this area are the biggest scammers around and I can't get them to take my money, out of 4 attempts I have only been able to buy 1 Nissan.

Not sure what ripples you are referring to but I think the Nissan side profile (and pretty much the whole car and that's saying something b/c Nissan design, in generally, is boring -Infiniti excluding) is much, much better and does not have the 'silly' ripples. Mazda's problem is they went WAY overboard with the little details, and the devil is in the details.

Here's how I think and hope it will look after the MCR. I can accept the grin and tail lights, but not the sides.