Nissan Begins Series Production of 2013 Altima Sedan in Smyrna

The first series production version of the all-new 2013 Altima has rolled off the assembly line at Nissan's Smyrna plant in Tennessee.

The Japanese carmaker has built more than 4.4 million examples of the four previous generations of the Altima since production started in Smyrna in 1992, a decade after the plant came to life.

Last year, Nissan sold 295,790 examples of the fourth generation of the Altima in the States, placing it in second place in the mid-size car segment behind the Toyota Camry (337,094 sales) but in front of the Ford Fusion (246,993) and the Honda Accord (230,562).

Nissan believes it can do even better this year with the new 2013 Altima.

"The Nissan Altima ranks among the country's top-selling cars and best-known nameplates," said Bill Krueger, vice chairman of Nissan Americas. "This generation is not only the most innovative Altima ever, it also becomes the benchmark for quality in the midsize car segment."

The 2013 Altima goes on sale in the States in July with prices starting at $21,500 for the 182hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder model and at $25,360 for the 270hp 3.5-liter V6 variant.

During the presentation, Nissan revealed that the Smyrna Assembly Plant "will serve as home to more firsts in the coming months", including the manufacturing of the pure-electric Leaf and the batteries that motivate it, the next-generation of the Pathfinder, and, in 2013, the next-generation Rogue crossover.

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