The Nissan Murano is a mid-size crossover SUV first sold by Nissan in December 2002 as a 2003 model. Nissan introduced the Murano as its first crossover SUV for the United States and Canada. Initially designed at Nissan America in La Jolla, California, the first generation Murano was based on the Nissan FF-L platform first used by the third generation Altima. The European version of the Murano began sales in 2004 and is available only in one version. The Murano was Nissan's only crossover SUV in the U.S. until September 2007 when the new 2008 Nissan Rogue went on sale. In Canada the X-Trail... had been on sale as Nissan's second car-based SUV since 2004 as a 2005 model; it was replaced by the new 2008 Nissan Rogue in late 2007. The Murano is sized between the Xterra and the Pathfinder, but is priced slightly higher than the Nissan Pathfinder. The Murano was nominated for the North American Truck of the Year award for 2003. It was also named the best premium mid-size SUV by AutoPacific. The name Murano comes from a region of Venice, Italy which is known for the hand blown glass produced there. The first generation Nissan Murano was powered by a 3.
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