Slick Thieves Ride Off with a…Dozen Brand-New Nissans in Canada!

Unless you are enjoying a Fast and Furious flick on the couch, in real life, you rarely hear about car thieves stealing a bunch of vehicles from the same owner.

Yet this happened in the Canadian city of Calgary where some very slick bandits made off with not one, not two but a dozen (!) brand new vehicles from a local Nissan dealership.

The Calgary police said that the thieves broke in the Sunridge Nissan dealership on Sunday , July 24, and stole the keys from 20 different models including sedans, SUVs and trucks, but managed to drive away with "only" 12 vehicles.

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Posted on 16.16 / 0 comments / Read More

Nissan Working on New Hybrid System for Front-Wheel Drive Models

Earlier this month, we reported on Nissan’s plans to drop the Altima Hybrid from its lineup at the end of the 2011 model year because of poor sales in the States as well as the fact that it uses a hybrid system borrowed from its chief Japanese rival, Toyota.

On Monday, Japanese business daily Nikkan Kogyo said that Nissan has already began work on a new hybrid system for front-wheel drive cars that will be based on the firm’s rear-wheel-drive hybrid drivetrain that launched in the 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid.

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Posted on 06.21 / 0 comments / Read More

Nissan to Axe Altima Hybrid at the End of the 2011 Model Year

The current Nissan Altima Hybrid is counting days (well, more like months) in the U.S. as the Japanese automaker plans to drop the gasoline-electric hybrid model from its lineup at the end of the 2011 model year, according to a report from Autonews. The hybrid sedan hasn’t been much of a success for Nissan as only 35,000 units have been sold in the States since its introduction in the market in 2007.

Aside from the somewhat disappointing sales, Nissan’s decision may also have to do with the fact that the Altima Hybrid utilizes a hybrid system sourced from rival Toyota. Nissan has since developed its own hybrid system with a new lithium-ion battery that made its debut on the 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid.

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Posted on 06.06 / 0 comments / Read More

Fire Hazard from Garmin Nuvi Prompts Recalls from Suzuki and Nissan

After Garmin announced a voluntary recall of 1.25 million units of its popular Nuvi GPS system at the end of August amidst concerns that the batteries could overheat and catch fire, Suzuki and Nissan followed with a recall on several vehicles equipped with the affected Garmin Nuvi navigation systems including the 750, 760, or 765 models for the same reason.

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Posted on 10.15 / 0 comments / Read More

2010 Nissan Altima Coupe: Facelifted Model Fully Revealed and Priced

The subtly refreshed 2010 Nissan Altima Coupe was officially revealed today. In a nutshell, the Japanese automaker's two-door model receives minor cosmetic tweaks, new available colors and upgraded option packages while the 3.5 SR model designation replaces the previous 3.5 SE. The most obvious changes for the 2010 model year concern the redesigned front end that gains a sculpted bonnet with a pronounced 'bump' in the center, newly styled projector beam headlights, a different treatment for the grille and a new bumper design with three air inlets instead of one.

The refreshed 17-inch alloy wheel designs (18-inch with Michelin P235/45R18 tires for the 3.5 SR models) and the three new available colors (Crimson Black, Navy Blue and Ocean Gray) pretty much complete the list with the exterior updates.

The Coupe's cabin has been refreshed with revised interior fabrics and finishers, a new red leather-appointed interior color selection and a revised Blonde interior color while the instrument cluster has been tweaked to incorporate a new white illumination color.

Nissan says that the most important news inside for the 2010 Altima Coupe is a new premium audio system that includes a 4.3-inch color display, USB port with iPod connectivity, Bluetooth Hands-free Phone System, MP3/WMA CD-ROM playback and XM Satellite Radio. Furthermore, this package also includes a RearView Monitor.

Also new for the 2010 model year is a next-generation Nissan Hard Drive Navigation System with 6.5-inch VGA color display, USB port with iPod connectivity, Bluetooth Hands-free Phone System with audio streaming, 9.3GB Music Box for music storage and playback, advanced map data including speed limit advisories, Zagat restaurant guide, XM NavTraffic and XM NavWeather and an RCA input for auxiliary audio/video connectivity.

As with the 2009MY, the new Altima Coupe is available with two gasoline engines, a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine that makes 175HP and 180 lb-ft of peak torque, and a 3.5-liter V6 with 270HP and 258 lb-ft. Both engines are offered with a choice of a 6-speed manual transmission or Nissan's Xtronic CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission).

Prices -excluding applicable tax, title and license fees- for the 2010 Nissan Altima Coupe range from $22,400 to $29,600.

2010 Altima Coupe	Engine/Trans.	M.S.R.P.
Altima Coupe 2.5 S	2.5L I4 6MT	$22,440 USD
Altima Coupe 2.5 S	2.5L I4 CVT	$22,940 USD
Altima Coupe 3.5 SR	3.5L V6 CVT	$27,270 USD
Altima Coupe 3.5 SR	3.5 V6 6MT	$29,600 USD

Posted on 09.55 / 0 comments / Read More

2010 Nissan Altima Sedan Photo Leaks Online after Pre-Production Recall!

Nissan may have wanted to keep the 2010 Altima -mostly- under covers for a week or so, but a full blown picture of the redesigned version of the sedan made its way onto the internet today along with the news that the Japanese firm is recalling 26,398 Altimas and Maximas from the 2009 and 2010 model years, including some 2010 Altimas that never went on sale, due to a potential safety issue regarding the front struts.

The new photo confirms that the 2010 Altima sedan gets a new front grille, tweaked headlamps that look a bit like the ones featured on the now discontinued 350Z, a restyled front bumper with three separate air-intakes and a more sculpted hood plus new alloy wheel designs.

From what we've heard, it won't be long before Nissan officially released detailed information and photos on both the sedan and coupe variants of the 2010MY Altima.

Kudos to Mehdi - Via: Altima Forums , Motortrend and Autonews

2009 NISSAN ALTIMA vs 2010 NISSAN ALTIMA

Posted on 16.18 / 0 comments / Read More

Nissan Releases Teaser Photo of 2010 Altima Sedan Facelift

About a month after an example of the refreshed 2010 Nissan Altima was snapped on the road during a commercial shoot out, Nissan decided to sate our appetites with the release of a single teaser image of its redesigned mid-size sedan. From what we can tell by looking at the photo, changes for the 2010 model year include a new front grille, tweaked headlamps, a newly designed front bumper and the more sculpted bonnet.

Expect to see similar cosmetic tweaks on the coupe model while according to Nissan, the 2010 Altima range will also benefit from refinements to interior as well as from new or upgraded option packages.

The facelifted Altima is due to fully revealed within the next few weeks and go on sale in the U.S. sometime in November.

Posted on 12.20 / 0 comments / Read More

2010 Nissan Altima Facelift Spied at Commercial Photo Shoot?

*Updated with higher-res photos

We just received note from autoscardesign reader Mehdi that a member over at the Altima Forums has posted a low-resolution picture showing what appears to be the 2010 Nissan Altima facelift. It seems that the photos were taken during a commercial shootout that included the new 370Z Roadster.

Even though the low-quality image doesn't help much to track all the changes -or for that matter, to make out if it's the coupe model with a new grille or the sedan, but it looks like the 2010MY Altima gets a newly designed front bumper and quite possibly, revised headlamps.

Nissan previously informed us that the all-three variants of the Altima aka the sedan, coupe and hybrid models will receive "refinements to the exterior, interior and option packages" for the 2010 model year with official details to be provided closer to the car's on-sale date in fall 2009.

We'll keep an eye on the story and keep you posted if anything new turns up.

Source: Altima Forums , Thanks for the tip Mehdi!

2009MY Nissan Altima Coupe and SEDAN

Posted on 10.20 / 0 comments / Read More