Life following art? Thoughts on the new Nissan Murano CrossCabrolet

Personal File: So I was finally going back through my brochures from our annual Chicago Auto Show trip and came back upon the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. Having done an early look at what it might have looked like for InsideLine, I was very impressed with what Nissan had actually done with the vehicle.

It seemed to be a hit with the ladies at the show, especially the younger female demographic. This got me thinking, since women influence over 3/4 of all vehicle sales, what if this vehicle concoction takes off? Would other manufacturers take note and start to offer SUV convertibles?

As I was pondering that question, I couldn't help but feel I've already seen this done before in the past. After a bit of digging around, I stumbled upon this old chop I did for a monthly design contest on GMInsideNews about 5 years ago. We were asked that month to chop the 2003 Centieme Concept and I went hog wild with a 2-door retractable hardtop convertible.

Funny how things work out ... I can now compare a 5 year old chop to a real life convertible SUV. Life imitates art or something like that ... ha ha ha

What do you think - should other manufacturers hop on the bandwagon? Would you consider buying a convertible SUV from Nissan, Buick, or any other brand if one was offered? Has Nissan just found their own BMW X6 niche? Time will tell :)

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