NEW YORK MOTOR SHOW: Nissan rules out road-going V8 Altima
But there are rumours of a high performance version of Nissan's medium car and it is likely to wear the hallowed 'Nismo' badgeThe Nissan Altima is in for a fast start in 2013, debuting first as a race car, then as a road car, but it will not leverage its V8 Supercar lineage as Ford and Holden do with their V8-powered rear-wheel drive models, such as the SS Commodore.
A V8-powered Nissan Altima that would easily capitalise on the company's upcoming V8 Supercar racing foray has been ruled out after Nissan Australia's top brass confirmed it "will not happen" but a Nismo-badged version has been given the green light.
The mod'ed mid-sizer is still shrouded in secrecy, but expect it to run a high-output version of the 3.5-litre V6 engine, which pumps out around 201kW/350Nm, and several suspension and brake upgrades from the Nismo catalogue.
Nissan Australia's Executive GM of national sales and fleet, Ian Moreillon, told motoring.com.au that the "...organisation would be doing more with the Nismo name. And certainly in Australia our thinking is there's an alignment with that, but it has to be in the right way, with the right product at the right time."
Moreillon continued: " ...we would like to think that we can have a sporty version of Altima going forward. It would be a good addition in our range and we think it would engage and leverage what we're doing in V8 Supercars very well."
Though the sporty Nissan Altima probably won't rival the SS Commodore in straight line speed, it's predicted lower weight could make it a more nimble corner carver.
Arguably the biggest news in Australian touring car racing since Nissan was kicked out of the series in 1992, the Japanese company's participation in V8 Supercar racing is costing the company several million dollars per annum in a "multi year deal". But Mereillon says it's money well spent.
"This decision was not done on emotion. It was done on a business case. We would never ever have got it over the line unless it was an effective business case. There's only one reason why were going into V8 Supercar racing, that is to sell cars," he said.
"We will be utilising V8 Supercar racing as a mechanism for a fast start for Altima in Australia, so to establish the nameplate, to establish the car, the recognition, the overall awareness of the vehicle, which is critical from a marketing perspective. We will use V8 Supercars to establish that in Australia starting from the first race next year when this man over here [points to Rick Kelly] will be driving one on the race track in Adelaide.
"We're not doing this only for Nissan Altima sales ... but for total brand strength. The linkage between the V8 Supercar racing and Nissan and the benefits we will achieve to overall brand opinion as of this major activity is where the benefit will lie," he said.
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