New York show: Nissan teases Oz-bound Altima

NISSAN is cranking up the publicity machine ahead of the world premiere at the New York auto show next month of its new-generation Altima medium-sized sedan – a car that is coming to Australia.

As GoAuto reported exclusively in August last year, Nissan Australia is preparing a fresh, big-volume assault on the medium-size passenger car market with the fully redesigned Altima – a model it plans to source from the US next year and which should also herald the Japanese brand’s first hybrid vehicle here.

We subsequently drove the current L32-series Altima in Japan late last year, fitted with Nissan’s next-generation ‘X-tronic’ continuously variable transmission (CVT) that will debut on a range of front-wheel-drive vehicles with four-cylinder and V6 engines, starting with the L33 Altima set to debut in New York.

Nissan this week released a video clip and image “offering a glimpse of the bold design of the all-new 2013 Altima sedan” in advance of its world premiere in the Big Apple.

The darkened overhead shot reveals little about the car, although Nissan is accentuating its aerodynamic shape and smooth, flowing bodywork that looks to finish with an arched roofline and coupe-like proportions at the rear.

The Altima is a crucial vehicle for Nissan in the US and one of its biggest sellers, routinely selling more than 30,000 units per month and – based on last month’s US sales figures – is second only to the Toyota Camry as America’s biggest-selling passenger car.

Indeed, the Altima was the third-biggest-selling vehicle across the entire US market in February, trailing only Camry and Ford’s F Series truck.

In Australia, the Altima is likely to replace lower-end versions of the Maxima, although an all-new large American-built sedan – which Nissan will campaign in next year’s V8 Supercar race series – is understood to be in the works.

As we have reported, Nissan will also source the next-generation Pathfinder SUV from the United States, also launching here next year.