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Nissan alters all CVTs to act less like a stretched rubberband

Among automotive enthusiasts, no one seems to hold a neutral opinion when it comes to continuously variable transmissions. CVTs are either praised for their ability to boost fuel economy or chided for their occasionally poor driving dynamics. Nissan is among the masters of these un-shifting gearboxes in the US, and it uses them in many vehicles in its lineup. However, for the 2015 model year, several models are getting a software update to make their CVTs a bit more like a conventional automatic.
To give drivers the option of feeling gearshifts while on the road, Nissan is adding its D-Step Shift Logic feature to the CVTs in multiple vehicles. Steve Powers, Nissan's senior manager of powertrain performance, told Autoblog the system forces the transmission to "hold a ratio and then shift" to simulate the way that a traditional automatic would. It's simply a change in software, but the company "can't do it to older CVTs," he said, because it would require changes to transmission logic, as well. According to Automotive News, the upgrade is coming to the 2015 Versa, Versa Note (pictured above), Sentra, V6-equipped Altima, Pathfinder and Quest. "We're rolling it out to all programs," said Powers.
Interestingly, buyer perception appears to be pushing the upgrade. John Curl, a Nissan North America regional product manager, told Automotive News that the decision to add the tech partially comes because some owners are bothered that the CVTs aren't changing gears. According to Powers, D-Step "avoids the rubber band feel," that many drivers didn't like. The different sensation of these transmissions seems like something consumers would notice during the test drive, or that the salesperson would inform them about. The same issue cropped up last year when the company was facing customer satisfaction problems among new buyers customers' unfamiliarity with the gearboxes.

Nissan Leaf ends 2013 with best sales month ever, but can't catch Chevy Volt

Nissan and Chevrolet both ended 2013 with solid sales figures for their plug-in vehicles, the first two that were released (all the way back at the end of 2010) from major automakers. As has been the story for most of 2013, December sales for the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt were roughly the same. When we left the year-to-date running tally at the end of November, the Volt was at 20,702, while the Leaf was at 20,080. As you can tell from the image above (if you've been noticing the trend in these EV sales monthly flash-reports), the Leaf outsold the Volt, but was it enough to put the Nissan on top for the year? In 2013, Nissan sold 22,610 Leafs, more than twice as many as in 2012. Almost. The Leaf made a valiant attempt, and did have its best month ever with 2,529 units sold. That means that for 2013, Nissan moved a total of 22,610 Leafs, more than twice as many as in 2012 (that year, Nissan sold only 9,819 Leafs in the US) and actually more than 2012 and 2011 Leaf sales combined (which was 19,493). Nissan continues to see the effects of its price drop and expanded sales areas, with Georgia rapidly becoming a Leaf hotbed. Nissan's Paige Presley said that Atlanta was once again the Leaf's number one market and that, "sales are expanding deeper into Georgia markets such as Macon and Columbus." The Volt saw a boost upwards from a November slump and sold 2,392 units in December. That puts the plug-in hybrid's annual total at 23,094, just down from the 23,461 sold in 2012. For all of 2013, though, the Volt outsold the Leaf by 484 vehicles. In a competition like this, we'll count that as a win for both sides. We will our more detailed monthly green car sales report, which covers more of the fuel efficient vehicles on the market, up soon. News Source: GM, Nissan Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales hybrid sales

Nissan and Infiniti recall 1.2 million vehicles because backup camera might go blank

Nissan North America has issued a recall for more than 1.2 million vehicles due to the ability to change backup camera settings to the point where there is no image in the display. The recall, which was filed with NHTSA on Sept. 12, 2019, includes cars, trucks, crossovers, SUVs, vans, and coupes across both the Nissan and Infiniti lineups.  Reported by Automotive News, NHTSA recall No. 19V654000 affects a total of 1,228,830 vehicles across two brand lineups and more than two dozen models. It includes the 2018-2019 Nissan Altima, Frontier, Kicks, Leaf, Maxima, Murano, NV, NV200, Pathfinder, Rogue, Rogue Sport, Sentra, Titan, Versa Note, Versa sedan; and 2018-2019 Infiniti Q50, Q60, QX30 and QX80. It also lists the 2019 Nissan GT-R and Taxis, as well as the 2019 Infiniti QX50, QX60, Q70, and Q70L. According to the recall, it is possible to adjust the backup camera and display settings "such that the rearview image is no longer visible and the system will retain that setting the next time the vehicle is placed in reverse." Although this type of occurrence would be extremely rare and most likely a mistake made by the driver, its real possibility means all of these cars are technically breaking the law. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 111, "Rear Visibility," says so. According to Automotive News, this recall is not limited to the United States and also affects vehicles in Canada, South Korea, and Israel. The recall begins Oct. 19, 2019, and Nissan will provide affected customers with a free software update to fix the issue.