The poor sales of the Nissan Sentra compared with the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic are really upsetting the Japanese automaker, which is reportedly considering a major makeover in an attempt to boost sales. The idea is to attract customers who like the midsize Altima but can't afford to buy one.
"A lot of people reject the Sentra because of its looks,'' claims Al Castignetti, Vice President of Sales. ''It's not a bad car; it's a great car. But it is not a natural progression to move down to it from the Altima."
The redesigned Sentra is still two years away, but Nissan hopes that it will form with the Altima a similar family relationship as the Honda Civic/Accord and Toyota Corolla/Camry.
"Toyota might sell around 400,000 Camrys and 300,000 Corollas, and Honda can sell 350,000 Accords and 300,000 Civics," adds Mr. Castignetti. ''We sell 270,000 to 300,000 Altimas but 100,000 Sentras. That's a big gap in our portfolio."
Source: AutoWeek via Autoblog
"A lot of people reject the Sentra because of its looks,'' claims Al Castignetti, Vice President of Sales. ''It's not a bad car; it's a great car. But it is not a natural progression to move down to it from the Altima."
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| 2010 Nissan Sentra SE-R (Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com) |
The redesigned Sentra is still two years away, but Nissan hopes that it will form with the Altima a similar family relationship as the Honda Civic/Accord and Toyota Corolla/Camry.
"Toyota might sell around 400,000 Camrys and 300,000 Corollas, and Honda can sell 350,000 Accords and 300,000 Civics," adds Mr. Castignetti. ''We sell 270,000 to 300,000 Altimas but 100,000 Sentras. That's a big gap in our portfolio."
Source: AutoWeek via Autoblog