HAVING reworked its entire truck lineup --everything from the X-Trail to the oversized Armada and Titan --Nissan is turning its attention to the car side of its portfolio. Most of the changes in the short term are minor (facelifts for the 350Z and Murano along with some nips and tucks to the rest of the lineup and the standard equipment list on many of the models). However, beginning in mid-2006, Nissan will reinvent almost all of its passenger cars.
Being billed as 2007 models, the Maxima gets a much nicer interior, and there will be an all-new Altima, which will include the first of the automaker's hybrids (Nissan is giving little away at this point, although it was smart enough to license Toyota's hybrid system, so the Altima Hybrid will hit the road running).
The biggest bit of news is the launch of the new Versa, an entry-level model that will be offered in both hatchback (due early summer) and sedan (next fall) variants. The introduction of this vehicle will also force the all-new Sentra (due in mid-2006) up-market and into direct competition with the Honda Civic, Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla.
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