The Nissan Maxima is a full-size car manufactured and marketed by Nissan and offered as Nissan's flagship sedan primarily in North America, the Middle East, and China — and currently in its eighth generation. Having debuted for model year 1982 as the Datsun Maxima, it replaced the earlier Datsun 810. The name Maxima dates to model year 1981 when Datsun marketed the upscale 810 as the 810 Maxima in North America. Like the 810, early versions of the Maxima had their origins in the Datsun/Nissan Bluebird. It is renamed to Nissan Maxima when the Datsun brand was phased out for model year 1985.