Nissan prices Altima from $29,990

NISSAN Australia has announced a sub-$30,000 entry price for its mid-sized Altima sedan ahead of its long-awaited local launch next month.

The $29,990 list price for the Altima ST base model drops it right in the middle of sharply priced similar models from rivals in the increasingly crowded medium car class.

It is not as cheap as Holden’s base Malibu CD, at $28,490 (plus on-road costs), but around the same price as Hyundai i40 Active, and cheaper than the market leading Camry Altise ($30,490) and Mazda6 Sport ($33,460).

Nissan announced that it would launch the Altima in four specifications – ST, ST-L, Ti and Ti-S – with pricing ranging up to $45,390 for the flagship V6 Ti-S.

Driveaway pricing starts at $33,513 for the Altima ST and rises to $50,784 for the Ti-S.

The three lower specifications will come with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine producing 127kW of power and 230Nm of torque and married to Nissan’s latest continuously variable transmission (CVT).

The 3.5-litre V6 in the Ti-S pumps out 185kW of power and 326Nm of torque, the same as the output of the Maxima which it replaces.

However, the V6 is well short of the Honda Accord V6L’s 206kW/339Nm, and Toyota Aurion’s 200kW/336Nm.

Nissan says Altima will offer a premium driving feel and next-generation technology with the new NissanConnect system.

The Thai-built Altima will come standard with NissanConnect which offers the ability to hear and read Facebook status updates, to connect with friends and nearby restaurants or attractions using Online Search with Google and to listen to music online using Pandora.

Nissan, which has been renowned for its seat comfort over many years, says Altima’s seats take comfort to a new level, claiming they are “inspired by zero-gravity research” to increase blood flow, decrease muscular load and lower fatigue.

Safety wise, the upper-spec Altima Ti and Ti-S will offer around view monitor, blind spot warning, moving object detection and lane departure warning.

The arrival next month of the Altima – foreshadowed for this market up to 18 months ago at its global reveal at the 2012 New York motor show – will cap a huge month for Nissan Australia which is warming up for two other models launches in November.

These are the British-made Juke compact SUV and the all-new American-made Pathfinder, both of which have also had a long gestation period for Australian birth.

Earlier this year, Nissan launched the mass-selling Pulsar small car, along with the flagship V8 Nissan Patrol.

Next year, Nissan will complete a major make-over of its passenger car range range with the new X-Trail medium SUV and second-generation Dualis compact SUV which will adopt the European Qashqai nameplate next time around.

Nissan Australia’s new managing director and CEO Peter Jones described the new Altima as an outstanding next-generation sedan.

“With contemporary styling and intelligent technology, this exciting new model offers comfortable but dynamic driving for all Australians,” he said.

Nissan Altima pricing

Model	List price	Driveaway
ST	$29,990	$33,513
ST-L	$35,890	$39,667
Ti	$40,190	$44,025
Ti-S	$45,390	$50,784