New Altima Coupe begins production

Nissan celebrated the Altima’s third launch in seven months at its Smyrna plant, just 20 miles south of its relocated North American headquarters in Nashville.

Touted as a “true coupe,” Nissan’s 2-door model has a shorter wheelbase and lower profile than the four-door version, as well as a sport suspension and is available with a 3.5-liter V6 engine.

“There’s a lot of coupes on the market, some of which are merely shorter versions of their sedan counterparts, but we didn’t want to do that,” said John Curl, regional product manager for Nissan. “It has the proportions of a coupe and not just a 2-door sedan.”

Karl Brauer, editor in chief of Edmunds.com, said the coupe’s almost completely new body panels add sophisticated styling that differentiate it from the sedan.

“My first impression was that it looked very upscale,” Brauer said.

The mid-sized coupe will be priced at $20,490 ? well under the company’s most-comparable model, the Infiniti G35 luxury coupe, and the Z sports car.

“It will cost you considerably less than a G35 and sends a lot of the same messages,” Brauer said.

The driver-centered interior offers a 6.5-inch traffic navigation screen, rearview monitor, keyless entry and ignition and hands-free phone system.

The coupe was unveiled at the 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show and will go on sale on May 25.

“In less than a month, we’ve had a thousand orders, which is fantastic,” said Michelle Erwin, a senior manager in marketing.

Analysts say Japan’s No. 3 automaker needs the new coupe, along with the Altima hybrid, to compete with rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. and boost dragging profits.

“We’re optimistic that we’re going to get a lot new owners because we’ve not had a vehicle in this segment at this price range before,” Erwin said.

With a broad base of existing Altima customers, Brauer said a coupe was the next logical step to bring in new buyers ? especially when sales are down.

Nissan marked its first drop in annual profit in seven years in the January-March quarter, the first such setback under the leadership of Carlos Ghosn, who salvaged the Japanese automaker from collapse.

“A lot of people would readily admit that they’ve slid,” Brauer said. “They’ve stagnated in terms of product and had some duds in terms of sales.”

Nissan was in a product lull for over a year before launching the Versa hatchback and the Altima sedan in 2006.