The Nissan Lafesta is a seven-seater minivan

Minivan

Minivan is a type of van designed for personal use. Minivans are typically either two-box or one box designs for maximum interior volume – and are taller than a sedan, hatchback, or a station wagon....

 built by Nissan Motors

Nissan Motors

, usually shortened to Nissan , is a multinational automaker headquartered in Japan. It was a core member of the Nissan Group, but has become more independent after its restructuring under Carlos Ghosn ....

 for the Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

n market. The name was derived from the Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 word festa, meaning holiday, festival or party, and according to the manufacturer "expresses a desire to spend an enjoyable time in the car together with family members or friends." It was first released on December 2, 2004 priced between ¥1,785,000 and ¥2,310,000 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, with a sales target of 5,000/month. The Lafesta shares a platform with the Renault Scénic

Renault Scénic

The Renault Scénic is a compact MPV produced by French automaker Renault, the first to be labelled as such in Europe. It is based on the chassis of the Mégane small family car. It became 1997 European Car of the Year on its launch in late 1996...

 and Renault Megane

Renault Mégane

The Renault Mégane is a small family car produced by the French automaker Renault since 1995. It is offered in 3- and 5-door hatchback, saloon, coupé, convertible and estate bodystyles...

.

The Lafesta is the successor to the Nissan Prairie

Nissan Prairie

The second generation of the Prairie was introduced September 1988, and it was renamed the Nissan Axxess when sold in North America. The vehicle sold for six years in Canada, and in 1990 only in the United States....

 / Nissan Liberty and currently competes with the Toyota Isis

Toyota Isis

The Toyota Isis is a seven-seat large MPV manufactured by Kanto Auto Works under contract for Japanese automaker Toyota. It is sold only in Japan and was launched in September 2004. It features sliding doors and is available with either front or four-wheel drive and straight-4 1.8 and 2.0-litre...

, Honda Stream

Honda Stream

The Honda Stream is a compact MPV manufactured by the Japanese automaker Honda since 2001. Japanese models have gasoline direct injection 1.7 L and 2.0 L engines with improved fuel efficiency...

, Toyota WISH

Toyota WISH

The Toyota WISH is a Compact MPV produced by Japanese automaker Toyota since 2003. It is available as a six and seven-seater, equipped with either a 1.8 or 2.0-litre gasoline engine...

, Subaru Exiga

Subaru Exiga

The Subaru Exiga is a new medium MPV that debuted as a concept car during the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. According to the Japanese Subaru press introduction materials, the name "Exiga" is a neologism combination of the words "exciting" and "active"....

, and the Mazda Premacy

Mazda Premacy

The Mazda Premacy is a compact MPV built by the Japanese manufacturer Mazda since 1999 and now in its second generation .The first generation Premacy was built in Japan and exported to Europe and Asia...

. The Lafesta also takes the Nissan Avenir

Nissan Avenir

The Nissan Avenir is a line of station wagons beginning production in May 1990 by Nissan of Japan, with the budget minded delivery van starting out as the Avenir Cargo, then being renamed in 1999 as the ' aimed primarily at the commercial market. It replaced the long-serving Nissan Bluebird...

's former role as the estate version of the Nissan Bluebird

Nissan Bluebird U14

Nissan switched to boxy styling for the U14 Bluebird for January 1996. The American Altima had different front and rear ends, in keeping with its sports sedan positioning. But in its home market, the Bluebird was targeted more at buyers who favoured the formality of larger Japanese sedans. However,...

The vehicle offers sliding doors on both sides (one of which is power-assisted), Nissan's Intelligent key system, GPS navigation system, reverse camera and a panoramic roof

Sunroof

An automotive sunroof is a fixed or operable opening in an automobile roof which allows light and/or fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs may be manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styles...

. The only engine option available is a 2.0 L MR20DE

Nissan MR engine

The MR is a family of straight-4 all-aluminum automobile engines with variable valve timing co-developed by Renault and Nissan. Renault calls it the M engine...

straight-4

Straight-4

The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....

. Both front- and four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...

 transmissions are available; the former uses a torsion beam suspension

Torsion beam suspension

thumb|250px|A front [[VW Beetle]] suspension cross-sectionA torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension or torsion beam suspension, is a general term for any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight bearing spring...

 at the rear while the latter has a trailing arm

Trailing arm

thumb|220px|Trailing arm rear suspension of [[Front-engine, front-wheel drive layout|FF]] carsA trailing-arm suspension is an automobile suspension design in which one or more arms are connected between the axle and the chassis. It is usually used on rear axles...

 multi-link

Multi-link suspension

A multi-link suspension is a type of vehicle suspension design typically used in independent suspensions, using three or more lateral arms, and one or more longitudinal arms....

 arrangement.

The Lafesta is built at the same factory that once produced the larger Nissan Presage

Nissan presage

The first generation Presage was launched by Nissan in June 1998 as a competitor to the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Estima. It was available with either seven or nine seats...

.

The 2007 Lafesta received a minor facelift from the 2004 model.
June 2011 saw the launch of the Mazda Premacy-derived Nissan Lafesta Highwaystar, which will be sold alongside the existing Lafesta range.

External links

• "Nissan Releases New Lafesta Minivan", Nissan Motors press release, December 2, 2004
• Nissan LAFESTA (Japanese)