2009 Nissan Teana Leaked

The 2009 Nissan Teana will be officially unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show in a few weeks time. However, as is usually the case, and thanks to the internet, nothing is sacred anymore, and dealer sales manual images have been leaked out of Japan. Although the quality of these images isn't the best, it gives us a pretty clear impression of the 2008 Nissan Teana.

Read on for more images.

Exterior

The Teana is based on the Nissan Intima Concept that was shown at the Bangkok International Motor Show this week. Although, as anticipated, many of the unconventional design elements have been lost in the production model, the overall concept has been carried over pretty faithfully.

The front grille and headlight are much more pronounced when compared to the current model, but this might not be to everybody's liking. The rear is also quite striking, with neat rear-light-clusters featuring nicely arranged LED lights. The shoulder line sweeping across the car is also striking, with a nice transition as it wraps around the rear of the car.

In my opinion, one of the strong points of the Teana is the distinctive design, and this has become even more prominent since the launch of the new Camry, Accord and Sonata models. The accord lacks anything to make it stand out, and the design is over done and fussy. This new 2009 Teana looks to maintain an individualistic look that separates it from the rest of the segment.

Interior

Another strong point of the current Teana is the interior. The quality is good, and the design is elegant, with good ergonomics, and a no-nonsense feel to it. Again, next to the Accord, Camry and Sonata, the Teana interior is distinctive (better!). While the Camry has comfortable seats, the centre console looks and feels like a chinese knock-off of a low cost hi-fi system, and although the Accord is well equipped, there is a cluttered feeling to the interior, and a fussy impression and as for the Sonata, well.... it is bland and dated.

The 2009 Teana looks to take things further ahead of the competition. While the seats look almost identical to the previous model, everything else looks completely new. The sloping centre console is replaced by a vertical design, with an inset entertainment and navigation screen with controls on an almost flat keypad.

The gate-type automatic shift has been replaced by a conventional looking straight slot. But this is still surrounded with wood trim. Unlike the efforts by Toyota, the current Nissan Teana wood trim doesn't look cheap, or fake. And the new stuff looks good too, although now with a darker tone.

Worth waiting for?

Yes. If you are happy with bland styling and handling, then the Camry is fine, and if you are happy with clutter and shudder then the Accord will make you smile. If you want cheap and boring, the Sonata is worth a look but it has seen a mid-life facelift in Korea already, and we'll probably get that in Thailand within this year. However, if you are able to look past the front-end design of the 2009 Teana, it looks like it will offer something interesting in this price range.