Here’s How Nissan Creates Its Signature New Car Smell

We all love that quintessential “new car smell.” For most cars and SUVs on the market, this smell is a mixture of plastics, stain-resistant fabrics, and maybe the actual leather, too. It’s a complex blend that elicits an emotional response the moment we sit in a new car.

At Nissan, there are professionals whose job is to ensure every new car has that unique smell. But how is this new car smell created?

Our team at Maus Nissan of North Tampa delves in!

The Appeal of the “New Car Smell”

When you hop in the driver’s seat of a new Nissan car for the first time and take a deep breath, you will smell something fresh and new, unlike anything else your olfactory receptors have encountered. The new car scent isn’t as definable as the scent of a pine tree or coffee, but it is no less noticeable!

Sadly, the new car smell can quickly fade, and most people want their car to smell new long after they have driven off the lot. What is it about the “new car smell” that brings people so much joy?

The science behind it is simple. What you smell in that new car’s interior is a mixture of:

• Plastics
• Leather
• Bonding materials
• Adhesives
• Stain resistant chemicals
• And more

The new car smell is the scent that is created when these materials begin “gassing off,” which is why the scent lasts for a short time. Nissan employees go through a lot to make sure the scent is just right and not strong enough to make you nauseous.

How is the “New Car Smell” Created?

There are many demands made on the materials inside of a car, expecting them to smell nice on top of all that is a lot to ask. But not for people like Tori Keerl, a materials engineer at the Farmington Hills, Michigan technical center.

Tori oversees a team of odor experts who carefully analyze the smells of everything that goes inside Nissan vehicles like the Frontier pickup and Pathfinder SUV.

Originally Keerl was hired as a plastics materials engineer, but she was soon given the responsibility for the way that Nissan vehicles smell inside.

When a new model is being developed, Keerl and her team test the smell of individual vehicle parts, such as the steering wheels, seat cushions, and visors, before they are installed in the vehicle.

Once these components are installed, Keerl and her team sit in the vehicle and make sure that whether they are sitting in the driver’s seat or back seat, they get immersed in that new car smell.

Front Seat Vs. Back Seat

Smells in the front seat are often very different from the smells in the back seat. In the front seat, there are more materials closer to the nose. Besides the leather or fabric of the seats, there are plastics on the dashboard, center console, and door panels. There are also bonding materials, threads, and adhesives that all contribute to the smell.

In the back seats, you’re surrounded by more than just seat materials. There are seats in front of you, behind you, and under you. Then there is the smell of the carpet too.

Certified Smellers

Once all the components are installed, there are still surprises. As with cooking, some smells on their own smell great, but when combined with other scents, they can become funky. This is where Keerl’s team begins to investigate.

She and the members of her team have been trained and certified to become “certified smellers.”

They begin their investigation in the same way that you might try to figure out a weird odor in your car. They methodically sniff every inch of the interior until they narrow down where the offending odor is coming from. Once they narrow the odor down, they begin to figure out which material or combination of smells is the culprit.

Often, an off-smell in a fully assembled Nissan vehicle is due to a supplier changing how a part is made. In that case, Keerl works with the supplier to find out if the problem can be fixed.

And because a person’s sense of smell changes over time, even day to day, Nissan’s professional smellers are regularly recertified with blind smell tests where they are asked to identify different scents in unlabeled vials.

Attitudes towards smells also vary from culture to culture, and Keerl is focused on cars that are intended for our North American audience.

Enjoy That New Car Smell

If you are ready to be immersed in the new car smell, come visit our showroom at Maus Nissan of North Tampa for a test drive! When you get behind the wheel of any new Nissan vehicle your nose will be delighted, and your confidence will be boosted.

Call us to learn about the Nissan lineup or to schedule a test drive today: (813) 800-6287!