Nissan Philippines launches all-new Altima, Sylphy sedans

Nissan Altima

Nissan is under new management in the Philippines. New company Nissan Philippines Inc. under president Kenji Naito, general affairs head SJ Huh and sales manager Lee Junia, will be responsible for the unified sales and marketing of the Japanese brand.

Their initial offerings: a pair of all-new sedans: the Nissan Altima and Sylphy. Nissan Altima is an executive sedan that competes with the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and Mazda6. The Altima is a highly successful car for Nissan USA, selling more than 302,000 units in 2013. Appropriately, the Altima that we will get here is assembled in the USA.

Nissan Altima

Altima is 4863mm long, 1830mm long and 1488mm tall, making it relatively compact for its class. The wheelbase is 2775mm, allowing for a cabin that Nissan reckons offers class-above roominess, particularly in the rear legroom. Altima gets a charcoal or beige interior, trimmed in fabric or leather. Rear seats feature center armrest and 60:40 split-fold function.

The front seats are reportedly designed with the help of NASA expertise, in achieving the so-called neutral posture that astronauts assume in a zero-gravity environment. Sandra Bullock will no doubt approve then, as the seats are supposed to support pelvis to chest areas to reduce driving fatigue.

Altima will be powered by a 2.5-liter twin-cam 16-valve four-cylinder with 180ps and 243 Nm, or an aluminum 3.5-liter V6 good for 270ps and 340Nm. Both engines mate to a Nissan Xtronic continuously-variable transmission (CVT). The Altima will have a stability control that helps reduce understeer.

Standard features for the Altima are power seats, power windows, trip computer with 3D display, six airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, four-wheel disc brakes, electric power steering, push-button start, and alarm with immobilizer. The 3.5 SL CVT comes with leather seats, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, dual-zone climate control, and Bose audio system. Colors are silver, black, white, and blue. The Altima launches with a competitive price: P1,650,000 for the 2.5L SV CVT and P2,030,000 for the 3.5L SL CVT.

Nissan Sylphy

To compete in the compact class, Nissan has also launched the Sylphy sedan. Sylphy is the company’s global contender, available in more than 120 countries including USA, Japan, China, and Thailand.

Sylphy features three-dimensional effect chrome grille, and xenon headlamps with LED accent lights. The horseshoe-shaped rear lamps also use LEDs.

Powering Sylphy is a choice of 1.6 liter with 116 ps or 1.8-liter with 131 ps, both inline-four gasoline engines with variable-valve timing. Either engine is paired with a CVT. The Sylphy has a low coefficient of drag to help fuel efficiency and reduce wind noise. It reportedly uses a high-stiffness body structure to reduce vibration and road noise. The chassis uses high-tensile steel for improved safety.

Nissan Sylphy

Sylphy features four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, EBD and brake assist. The base 1.6-liter MT model gets 16-inch alloys, remote entry, and tilt-telescoping steering wheel. The 1.6 CVT variant adds power folding mirrors, LED accent lamps and front fog lamps. The 1.8-liter upgrades to xenon headlamps, transponder key with push button start, leather seats, and six-speaker audio.

Like the Almera, Sylphy promises interior space on par with cars one class above. Colors are white, black, gray, silver and bronze. The base 1.6 liter MT goes for P812,000. The upper-grade 1.6L CVT is priced at P915,000, with the 1.8L CVT goes for P998,000.

With the newly-launched vehicles, the Teana and Sentra officially bow out.