2013 Nissan Altima sedan

2013 Nissan  Altima sedan at its Smyrna, Tennessee plant today Nissan has big plans for the fifth-generation Altima, which was the number-two selling car in the United States in 2011. Toyota sold 308,510 Camry last year, compared with Nissan's 268,981 Altima.

Krueger admits that the consumer will vote on whether the Altman becomes the top selling car. Nissan definitely has the capacity to pass the Camry, as it builds Altman at two plants.

Two engine choices
The base model is powered by a 182-horsepower, 2.5-liter, dual overhead cam, inline 4-cylinder engine capable of a claimed 27 mpg city and 38 mpg highway.

Also available in S, SV, and SL trim levels, the 2.5-liter engine offers the best choice for gas mileage.
Several trim options

While SV and SL models will benefit from higher quality sound systems and more options over the base-level models, Nissan has said each Altman will come with Bluetooth hands-free and audio streaming as standard.

This could finally be the midsize sedan that knocks the Toyota Camry from the spot it’s held for a decade as the best-selling car in America: the 2013 Nissan Altman.

As Nissan rolled the first redesigned Altman off the assembly line Tuesday at its Smyrna assembly plant, company officials stopped short of predicting such a victory for the new model.

“Nissan wouldn’t be where it is today in North America without the Altman,” Krueger said.
Part of the Latina’s sales edge over the Accord in 2011 can be attributed to Honda’s production problems in the wake of the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which had little effect on Nissan’s output of cars for the North American market.

The Altman boasts the best fuel economy in its class, excluding gasoline-electric hybrids. The plant has other new products on the way, said Susan Brennan, Nissan’s vice president for manufacturing in Smyrna. Next year, production of Nissan’s second-best-selling car, the compact Rogue crossover, will be moved to Smyrna from Japan, Brennan said. In March, the plant began building its first Infiniti luxury vehicle, the new JX seven-passenger crossover.