Nissan’s new Altima hits the grit in the Middle East

The manufacturer unveiled the sixth incarnation of the popular range on Wednesday in Dubai

The 2019 Altima is lower, longer and wider than the previous generation. Courtesy Nissan

Nissans are a common sight on UAE roads, not least the high and mighty Patrols that seem to bless every inch of the tarmac.

So it is that the unveiling of the 2019 edition of its mid-size sedan, the Altima, is bound to be of interest amongst the company’s driving devotees.

Nissan took the covers off the new model in Dubai on Wednesday, revealing a whole new range of updates it hopes will appeal to its established client base.

The manufacturer clearly has high hopes for this latest incarnation.

Kalyana Sivagnanam, the company’s Regional Vice President, Marketing and Sales, AMI, said the new Altima model comes with “25 years of heritage”.

“It is an incredibly popular model in the Middle East, and we are confident that the advancements made in the sixth generation of the car will heighten its appeal,” he said.

The 2019 Altima has some big boots (or tall tyres) to fill. Over the last 10 months, Nissan says the previous model has enjoyed its biggest ever sales in the Middle East to date.

This latest design was apparently inspired by the award-winning Nissan Vmotion 2.0 concept car, which made its debut at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

New additions to the latest model, which is lower, longer and wider than previous versions, include upgraded seats and a multi-touch colour display for in-car entertainment.

What Nissan calls its Intelligent Mobility technologies have also been fitted into the 2019 Altima as standard.

These include driver reversing alerts, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, and lane departure warning.

Things are different under the bonnet, too, with two new engines being introduced.

Standard is a new 2.5-litre DOHC inline four-cylinder direct injection engine, giving more power and torque than previous models, along with lower fuel consumption and cleaner emissions.

And replacing the fifth-generation Altima’s 3.5-litre V6 engine is the “world’s first production-ready variable compression turbo inline four-cylinder”.

The 2.5L 2019 Altima goes on sale in the Middle East this month, followed by the 2.0L turbo in the summer.

The model available now has a starting price of Dh84,000.

When The National tested the previous Altima last year, we felt there could be some room for improvement. Could the new version have filled in the gaps?