Second Nissan saloon to kick the bucket, after the Pulsar.
Nissan Australia seems to be revamping its model lineup quietly, with the mid-sized Altima saloon being dropped from the list without so much as a circular. The Altima’s demise comes not long after the death of the Pulsar, which was dropped earlier this year due to slow sales and heightened cost.
The Nissan Altima would have had to see a revision this year, to meet stricter Euro 5 emissions standards that are about to go in effect very soon. “The reason [for dropping the Altima] relates to the investment required to update the Altima’s engines to meet the new Euro-5 emissions standard in Australia. Nissan has decided not to make this investment, so for now, the Altima won’t be in our new-vehicle catalogue in the future. As a result, production of the Altima sedan will stop for Australia,” said Peter Fedeyev, general manager for corporate communications for Nissan’s local office.
At present, Nissan seems to offer no saloons at all. The lineup now begins with the Juke crossover, and ends with the Patrol (excluding the sports cars like the manic GT-R, of course). Speaking to CarAdvice, the corporate commutations GM said that the Altima and Pulsar haven’t been “permanently dropped,” and that “timing of their replacements will be announced in the future,” which we’re sure will bring some relief to those of you who might really, really like Nissan saloons.
It makes sound business sense for the marque to drop the Altima, with the sales of mid-sized saloons tapering in recent years. In the last three-and-a-half years, only 4593 Altimas found homes on our shores, which may seem like a lot until you realise the Toyota Camry (an arch nemesis) sold a similar number of cars in the last three months.
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