Earlier generations featured a hood ornament with an image of an acanthus leaf that gave the Nissan Laurel its name.

The Q45 was discontinued after 2006, however the Cima and the President continued in production until August 2010, leaving the Fuga to become the flagship for the Infiniti line.

April 2012, the Cima nameplate was resurrected, and resumed "flagship" status in Japan as a longer wheelbase version of the Fuga Hybrid.

[1] According to the Nissan Factory website at Tochigi, Cima production was started up again in October 2021,[2] only to be discontinued for the third and final time in 2022.

The bigger versions received larger bumpers to take advantage of the absence of exterior dimension restrictions, but were still somewhat of a half measure as the bodywork itself remained narrow.

Nissan had already begun updating the executive limousine President which would début October 1989 as an all new model, and the availability of the Laurel and Cefiro that shared a chassis with the Skyline.

When rumors came that Toyota was developing a larger, wider extension of the Crown, called the 4000 Royal Saloon G, Nissan acted hastily to add a full-sized version of the Cedric and Gloria.

Nissan announced the intent to introduce the Cima September 2, 1987, followed by the debut at the Tokyo Motor Show Oct 29, 1987 alongside the MID4-II with sales beginning January 1988.

While the car had accumulated more than 250,000 km (155,342.8 mi), Nissan offered to restore and replace all worn out parts without cost to her.

The car is simply known as the Cima, and was a premium trim package at Nissan Prince Store locations alongside the Skyline, Gloria and Infiniti Q45.

The collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble resulted in lower sales for either car, compared to Nissan's previous Y31 model.

Initially the Cima was only available with the VH41DE series V8, a short-stroke version of the VH45DE used in the President, the 3.0 L VG30DET turbo V6 was offered to provide a rewarding feeling of torque when accelerating, which was popular with the previous generation, and a reduced yearly road tax obligation.

Due to softening sales as a result of the bubble economy collapse, the interior color choices were limited to black or gray, with elm wood inserts and black or gray leather or wool upholstery, or tan interior with contrasting leather or wool upholstery with cherry wood inserts.

September 1992, the Cima Type II Limited S-Four using the ATTESA E-TS drivetrain was added to the options list, mated to the V8 engine.

They were the 41LX, 41LV, 41L, 30LV, 30L, with the performance "Grand Touring" series, starting with the 41TR-X, 30TR, 30T grades, that added aerodynamic appearance parts and the ATTESA E-TS AWD drivetrain upgrade for vehicles installed with a V8.

Instead of the VH45DE V8 engine, which remained exclusive to the President, Nissan carried over the VH41DE V8 and the VQ30DET turbo V6 due to reduced yearly road tax obligation from the previous generation.

This was also the same year Nissan introduced a telematics in-car navigation system instead of sending CD or DVD based map updates called Compass Link.

The VK45DD direct-injection V8 features in the Japanese Cima, alongside the VQ30DET, both producing 280 PS (206 kW), and the ATTESA E-TS AWD drivetrain upgrade option continued for vehicles installed with a V8.

A left-hand drive version of this generation was offered for sale in China at the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2003.

It also comes with Nissan's "Intelligent Dual Clutch Control", a one-motor two-clutch parallel hybrid system, that offers direct response, superb driving feel and low fuel consumption.

On April 16, 2014, it was announced that the current Cima will be offered in North America as the Infiniti Q70L beginning with the 2015 model year.