Originally posted by The Apple
I definatley agree that the Altima is outclassed when it comes to interior fit, finish, and materials. Nissan's stongpoint in my opinion has always been their engineering and not design/ergonomics. Meaning that while they're capable of producing some of the best performance cars out there (GT-R, Silvia, Z), they really struggle when it comes to creating a simple family sedan.
To me the new Altima only proves this point further, it's like they said to themselves while designing it, "Okay, instead of trying to focus on ergonomics and interior materials, which we're not very good at doing, let's instead focus on the mechanics and performance since those are our company's strengths." If that really was what Nissan was thinking then the surely accomplished their goal, no other family car in it's price range comes close to it in terms of performance.
But by taking this path they alienated a lot of their potential customer base, the majority of family car buyers aren't looking for performance, they're looking for comfort and ergonomics. Maybe they knew this, afterall isn't their new company slogan 'We create cars that are everything to some people, not something for everyone'. The Altima certainly fits that statement, for the few people out there who want great performance but for whatever reason need to buy a family sedan the Altima is the perfect choice. For everyone else looking for more traditional family car values there's the Accord and Camry.
I think what Nissan ended up doing probably worked out best for them. They really wouldn't have been able to seriously compete with the Camry or Accord by creating a similarly comfortable and quiet family car with a nice interior. This is because most Camry and Accord buyers don't even shop around, they're repeat buyers who have owned a Camry or Accord in the past and were satisfied with their car so that's what they puchase again.
exaclty
