Nissan has rolled-out its new Altima mid-size sedan at the New York Auto Show. The American-created Altima will join Nissan Australia’s model lineup from late next year but before that will spearhead the company’s move into V8 supercar racing.
While the Altima race-car will be powered by a revised version of Nissan’s 5.6-litre V8 which is coming in the all-new Patrol SUV, road versions will get a 136kW/244Nm 2.5-litre four-cylinder and a 201kW/350Nm 3.5-litre V6 (both petrol). Drive will be via a new X-Trnic CVT automatic.
While the tale-of-the-tape reveals the Altima is actually a shade longer than the current Maxima at 4864mm, Nissan Australia says the good-looking newcomer will be pitched into the medium segment against volume sellers like the Toyota Camry, Hyundai i45, Mazda6 and Ford Mondeo.
The question mark is the Nissan Maxima. Nissan Australia says both Altima and Maxima will sell alongside each other, but given their virtually identical sizes and the focus on the Altima via the company’s V8 racing program…that’s a tough assignment for the Maxima to match.
The other question is from which plant Nissan will source the all-new Altima. Nissan Australia has not ruled-out bringing Altimas from North America (with whom Australia has a free trade agreement) but we also have a free trade agreement with Thailand and as another alternative, the Altima is slated for production in Japan.
Nissan will work-out the details in coming months but the message from New York is clear – Nissan Australia is back in the large volume mid-size sedan market.
