A Wards Auto report said that Nissan will be removing the Altima Coupe from its lineup, a move prophesized by the automaker’s decision not to improve the car in any way in the 2012 model-year to 2013. Officials are apparently staying tight-lipped about the real reason for the decision, but it is suggested that poor sales and a lack of buyer interest may have been the deciding factors to not go ahead and present a new model.
Originally aimed at “single buyers in their 20s and 30s,” the car went on sale in 2007, but never quite made its sales expectations in any of its six years on the market. However, while the Altima Coupe may be ditched, two other low-volume Nissans will be kept – the asymmetrical Cube and the quite unappealing Murano CrossCabriolet.
Still, despite claims that the market for this type of coupes is shrinking, one other Japanese manufacturer, Honda, disagrees. They don’t do it through words, but rather through their Accord Coupe, which is so uninteresting that it recently received a Honda Factory Performance (HFP) pack.
Another way of looking at this is with a bit of foresight in mind. The Altima Coupe has decent look and stance to it and solid engineering underneath. These factors could perhaps make this an interesting collectors’ item a few decades into the future… or not. Perhaps there is something missing from the formula, yet Honda knows what it is, while Nissan doesn’t.
By Andrei Nedelea
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