Nissan Introduces Gripz Concept Sports Crossover, and It Is Sweet
The crossover market has been treating Nissan very, very well. Nissan’s three premier crossovers–the Juke, the Murano, and especially the Rogue–make up a large percentage of Nissan’s total sales, with sales of the Rogue in August at an increase of 37% over last August, numbers which are second only to sales of the Altima (which has stayed about the same year-over-year).
Nissan has had to jack up production of the Rogue, even going so far as to tap its factories in Japan to produce about 100,000 more Rogues per year.
In fact, there have even been rumors that Nissan will be bringing its Qashqai crossover, currently popular in Europe but not sold in the US, across the water as a replacement for the Rogue Select.
Building on that success, Nissan has gone to the Frankfurt Motor Show to show off its new Gripz crossover concept. And we have to say, it looks pretty cool. Here’s Nissan’s promotional video:
A few details, in list format:
- The concept is partly based on one of Nissan’s earlier “Z” cars, the 240Z, which was reengineering in the ’70s to be rough-and-tumble rally racers.
- The Gripz concept is a hybrid—its powertrain, called “Pure Drive e-Power,” consists of a gas engine powering the electric engine found in the Nissan LEAF.
- It is meant to be a design statement rather than a replacement for a particular model, and incorporates design elements used in the Sway concept like a V-motion gille, boomerang lamps, a floating roof, and a “kicked-up” C pillar.
- This is the first Nissan to be created using the manufacturer’s “emotional geometry” design language.
Nissan wants people to think of this design as futuristic, so each video it puts out (links at the bottom) uses techno music.
However, we think that sets the wrong tone.
So while you peruse the gallery of the Nissan Gripz concept hybrid sports crossover, please feel encouraged to listen to this on repeat:
Nissan Gripz Concept Gallery
If you would like to see more videos or read more on the new concept, click here or here.
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