I've always thought the Maxima was a hot looking sedan, but when the Altima showed up with the same size and the 3.5 (and just as attractive in my opinion), it may have wound up cannibalizing sales.
Kinda like the Versa is effectively as big from an interior perspective as the Sentra, albeit at least with different engine displacements in either model.
Or the Civic SI sedan and the Acura CSX. Or a loaded Camry SE V6 and the Lexus IS 250.
6 of one, half dozen of the other when shopping at this price point. I'd always go for the brand image, all else being reasonably the same...