The is a front-engine, five passenger, mid-size passenger car manufactured and marketed by Nissan Motors over three generations. Almost all Cefiro's were marketed as four-door sedans, though a five-door wagon body style was briefly available (1997–2000). In most cases, the Cefiro used Nissan's VQ six-cylinder engines, named Ward's 10 Best Engines more than ten years running. Nissan marketed the Cefiro in the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) as well as worldwide, the latter under numerous badge-engineered nameplates, including as the Nissan Maxima (North America, Australia), Samsung SM5 (Korea), Infiniti I30 and Infiniti I35 (North America) and Maxima QX (Europe, Russia). Models manufactured under license were marketed in Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur and Taiwan. The first generation Cefiro (internally designated the A31, 1988-1994), used rear-wheel drive; offered four- and six-cylinder engines; and became popular in motorsport drifting. The second generation (A32, 1995-1998) and third generation (A33, 1995-2004) used exclusively a front-wheel drive and V6 engine drivetrain. After the A31, A32 and A33 generations, Nissan would also later use the Cefiro nameplate on examples of its first generation Teana (J31) sedan — exported to Asian and Latin American markets. Nissan began using the Cefiro nameplate - derived from the Spanish word céfiro, meaning zephyr - in 1988; the nameplate was officially retired in 2012. First generation (A31, 1988-1993) Nissan released the A31 series Cefiro sedan to Japan in September 1988, sharing its transmission, engine and rear suspension setup with the R32 Skyline, F31 Leopard, and C33 Laurel — with the exception of the diesel engine, which was available only in the Laurel. The platform and front suspension (strut type) were shared with the Laurel with the exception of the 4WD Cefiro, which used the Skyline GTS4's multiple-link front suspension and front drive train. The chassis was shared with the Laurel only, as it had a slightly longer wheelbase than the Skyline chassis. The Cefiro rivaled the Toyota Cresta and Toyota Chaser triplets, with Nissan offering the Cefiro as a comparable fourth alternative to the Skyline and Laurel models, selling each vehicle at a separate Nissan dealership (Nissan Prince for the Skyline, Nissan Motor for the Laurel, Nissan Bluebird for the Leopard, and Nissan Satio for the Cefiro). The model code "A31" was chosen as the number combination "A30" was previously used by the 1967–1971 Nissan Gloria soon after Nissan had merged with the Prince Motor Company. The Cefiro took the top-level position at Nissan