Nissan has decided to drop the Versa subcompact after 2025, and the Altima midsize sedan the following year, after 2026. This is as reported by Automotive News, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the decision.
In the case of the Altima, Nissan extended production for an extra year at the company’s plant in Canton, Mississippi, but it will now sunset the model as it currently exists after 2026. Beyond that, the automaker has yet to make a decision regarding a next-generation model, and what kind of electrified powertrain it might get.
The Sentra lives on
Amid these two moves, Nissan will continue on with its compact sedan. The Sentra has been the company’s second-best selling model in the U.S. this year, with sales of almost 90,000 units and deliveries up by 55 percent over last year.
As vehicle prices and financing interest rates have climbed over the past year or two, the dwindling number of affordable new vehicles still on the market have drawn renewed interest, and the Sentra appears to have been a prime beneficiary. Data shared by Edmunds shows that many Sentra buyers are first-time buyers or coming over from other car brands, who may not be offering vehicles in that price category anymore.
Sales figures alone could be reason enough to preserve the Sentra while sacrificing the Versa and Altima, but Nissan in North America has been focused generally on increasingly profitability in recent years. San Francisco-area Nissan retailer Chadi Moussa told Automotive News that he’s happy to “focus on selling one sedan model profitably. With the Sentra as our sole sedan offering, we can maintain solid profitability.”
The removal of current gas-powered models also clears the way for the electric models Nissan has promised are coming in the next years. The automaker has said it wants 40 percent of sales in the U.S. to consist of EVs by 2030. To get it there, it plans to launch several new crossovers and sedans across the Nissan and Infiniti brands in the next few years, which will be built at the Canton plant in Mississippi.