Announcement of the All-New Nissan Altima

The all-new Nissan Altima was unveiled at the New York Motor last week by Nissan Motor Company CEO Carlos Ghosn and will arrive in New Zealand showrooms in the second half of 2013.

Today, the Altima is already the second most successful passenger sedan in the USA with sales of more than 20,000 per month.

The appearance of the Nissan Altima in New Zealand will be a strategic boost to our ever improving passenger car line up and will offer a very compelling alternative to the familiar products in this segment.

We are also pleased to announce today that it is the Altima that will be the vehicle that raises the bar in Australian motorsport as Nissan’s entry in the 2013 V8 Supercar Championship. The Nissan Altima V8 Supercar will introduce modern generation sedan styling and technology to the series.

Currently, Kelly Racing co-owner and driver Rick Kelly and CEO John Crennan are in New York for a closer look at Altima as the team prepares to build the factory entry into the V8 Supercars Championship from 2013. This series is hugely popular in both Australia and New Zealand and we are hopeful of a local round being added next year. Obviously this would add enormously to awareness of the new Altima and to the entire Nissan brand.

The all-new Nissan Altima V8 Supercar will be powered by a race-prepared version of the Nissan VK Series V8 engine. This engine series is built and widely used in the US market and in various race series around the world.

The VK Series V8 already forms the basis of the powerplant for the FIA GT1 Nissan GT-R, which successfully contested the FIA Championship in Europe last year. For the 2013 V8 Supercar Season, the all-alloy, overhead cam, multi-valve engine is being developed for V8 Supercars by Kelly Racing.

The VK Series V8 is the powerplant employed in the all-new Y62 Series Patrol that is currently under consideration for release in our market.

Should we proceed with the new Patrol project we will have a direct linkage between the road and the track with the VK Series V8 engine.

The Nissan Altima is poised to become the new benchmark in the hotly contested medium sedan segment when it goes on sale. Combined with its entry into V8 Supercars, Australia’s premium motorsport category, the Nissan Altima will provide a level of innovation and excitement that has never been seen before in the category.

More details will be made available on both the vehicle and the race program through 2012 as we prepare to start racing the Nissan Altima in round 1, 2013 and for the sale of the vehicle in the second half of 2013.

Yours faithfully,

Nissan New Zealand Limited.

John Manley Managing Director