In December last year, Nissan surprisingly announced that the Altima would live on for the 2026 model year, but now it and the Rogue Plug-In Hybrid are both being put to pasture to make space in the lineup for new models like the hotly anticipated Xterra. Ponz Pandikuthira, Nissan’s senior vice president and chief product & planning officer for North America, told WardsAuto that the $28,825 Altima is being discontinued after three decades to prevent competition with the new Sentra. With this, not only is the cheapest American-made sedan departing from Nissan’s lineup, but the Sentra will become the brand’s only remaining sedan after the Versa was killed off and plans for new electric sedans were shelved.
Nissan Altima And Rogue PHEV No Longer Needed
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Pandikuthira also said that the recently introduced Mitsubishi Outlander-based Rogue PHEV is being axed because it has “served its purpose” of giving buyers a Nissan-badged hybrid option in the States, effectively serving as a temporary gap-filler before the new Rogue E-Power arrives for 2027 with Nissan’s own technology. Basically, Nissan sees little demand for sedans, and what exists will be served by the “new, more ‘grown-up’ Sentra,” while the Rogue PHEV was only introduced so Nissan could take advantage of demand for plug-in hybrids.
“If people shopping online see that Rogue does not offer a hybrid, they will not go to the dealer. And while it’s relatively expensive because of the subsidy having gone away, it has served that purpose.”
As it aims to rediscover the success it enjoyed in the Carlos Ghosn era, Nissan has no room for unnecessary fluff, and it needs to convince buyers that it is as technologically proficient as its rivals. Cutting the entry-level Versa, the premium Maxima, the Altima, and the reskinned Outlander serves those purposes, and they won’t be the last nameplates to depart, with a total of 11 models set to depart.
Exciting Times For Nissan As New Models Draw Closer
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While we’re sad to lose another affordable sedan as Nissan focuses on profitable SUVs, it’s a time of renewal at Nissan. Recently discovered patent images suggest Nissan is still considering developing cheap sedans, and the Skyline name is being resurrected. This won’t reach the U.S. as such, with an Infiniti Q50 based on the same skeleton coming to America instead, potentially with the option of a retrofit kit to make it into a Skyline. The automaker has also hinted at more fun sports cars, like a Z Convertible and perhaps a Silvia, but first, it has to make a success of the Xterra, Juke EV, and Skyline, and not everyone attached to the company likes the way CEO Ivan Espinosa wants to do things. Hopefully, these model cullings will show that he’s on the right path, but it will still take a while for Nissan’s turnaround measures to bear fruit.
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