Nissan’s North American division announced that it won’t be extending the Altima Hybrid’s run into model year 2012, concentrating instead on the widespread distribution of the LEAF.
The news isn’t surprising, as the Japanese automaker had been planning on retiring the vehicle, powered by a Toyota hybrid system, for a while now. Naturally, using an archrival’s technology is always a bitter pill to swallow.
In addition, sales of the Altima just weren’t strong either in Canada or the US. It was available in only ten States down south, limiting its chances.
There are even rumours, unconfirmed by the parties involved, that the Altima Hybrid was never profitable.
Nissan spokesperson John Schilling also said the hybrid power train developped by Nissan for the Infiniti M35 will remain in place and may well be found under the Altima’s hood in 2013 or later.
Source: Auto Observer
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| Photo: Michel Deslauriers |
The news isn’t surprising, as the Japanese automaker had been planning on retiring the vehicle, powered by a Toyota hybrid system, for a while now. Naturally, using an archrival’s technology is always a bitter pill to swallow.
In addition, sales of the Altima just weren’t strong either in Canada or the US. It was available in only ten States down south, limiting its chances.
There are even rumours, unconfirmed by the parties involved, that the Altima Hybrid was never profitable.
Nissan spokesperson John Schilling also said the hybrid power train developped by Nissan for the Infiniti M35 will remain in place and may well be found under the Altima’s hood in 2013 or later.
Source: Auto Observer