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Huey Lewis once sang “It’s hip to be square.” Few believed him. Mathletes wax poetic about the superior geometric efficiencies of a cube in terms of volume v. surface area. And get little respect. Cavemen discovered that a round stone rolls better than a square one. And, as a consequence, gave birth to the traffic jam. In 1998, Nissan introduced the original Cube, an aptly named box-on-wheels, to minor consumer interest. Perhaps, like homo erectus, the Cube was simply ahead of its time.

But times change, and so did the Cube. In 2002, an all-new second generation Nissan Cube was introduced in the Japanese market. More spacious inside, more glass outside, more power under the hood and, more importantly, a few more angles and curved surface details added to its compact, slab-sided exterior. Quintessentially Japanese, this new Cube took Tokyo by storm. A pocket-sized fun-and-function cocktail mixing the charm of Godzilla and the wit of Mothra, buyers were smitten. And so, it turns out, Huey was right after all. Like the Nissan GT-R before it, the Nissan Cube soon found an audience outside of Japan – not in person, but through its exposure in fashion and automotive magazines, videos and on the Web.

Reboot to today, more than 10 years since its original appearance, and the Nissan Cube is ready to meet the world in person, coming to America in spring 2009 in an all-new, dramatically rethought third generation design that is clever, quirky, witty, fun and uniquely functional. And still totally square.

More than just unique geometry, however, the new 2009 Nissan Cube is also conceived as a totally different take on an automobile – a car that doesn’t want to be defined as car. “With its unique blend of fashion and function, Cube imagines a life less ordinary,” said Al Castignetti, vice president, Sales, Nissan Division, Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA). “Cube is as much of a Mobile Device as it is an automobile, something that enhances life like people’s digital devices do. Cube is a vehicle that people of all ages can fall in love with, even when they don’t love cars.”

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