Subaru Recalling Cars for Curling Mats, Nissan for Spare Tire Inflation and Honda Over ESC

In its latest release, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has shared detailed information on three separate and unrelated recalls from the same number of carmakers.

We'll begin with Subaru, which is recalling 10,137 Forester SUVs made from January 2013 through March 2013 over an issue with the carpeted floor mats that may curl when exposed to heat. This can be a problem when it occurs with the driver-side floor mat as it can interfere with the "proper operation of one or a combination of, the vehicle's clutch, brake, and accelerator pedals". A similar issue had plagued Toyota causing one of the widely publicized sudden acceleration-related recalls.

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Nissan Announces Recall for Five 2013 Models Due to Passenger Airbag Issue

Nissan will be recalling four of its own models, and one Infiniti vehicle, due to a possible problem with the passenger airbags, which may not deploy in the event of a crash. The affected models are the Sentra, Altima, Pathfinder, Leaf and the Infiniti JX35, all of which are from the 2013 model-year. Read more »

Latest Nissan Altima Becomes the New Teana for China [w/Video]

Nissan and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motors lifted the veils off their new local market Teana sedan during a press conference in China on Tuesday in front of more than 1,000 (!) journalists and dealers from all over the country.

If the mid-size sedan looks eerily familiar, it's because the Teana is the same car as the North American Altima with some barely noticeable changes such as the added chrome strips on the lower sections of the doors and rear bumper, and the front grilles, the white markers on the headlamps and the revised tail light graphics.

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C&D Puts the VW Passat Against Newcomers Ford Fusion, Honda Accord and Nissan Altima

It's the most popular passenger car segment in the U.S.A. with well over 1 million annual sales and four representatives in 2011's list of the 10 bestselling models overall, including the Toyota Camry that finished 3rd behind the Ford F-Series and Chevy Silverado trucks, followed by the Nissan Altima (4th overall), Ford Fusion (6th) and Honda Accord (9th).

We are talking of course about the mid-size category, which is the subject of Car & Driver's (C&D) magazine latest comparison test.

The publication took its previous winner, the North American market VW Passat (not to be confused with the Passat sold in other regions) that beat the Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata, and compared it against three newcomers, the 2013 versions of the Ford Fusion (to be sold in Europe as the new Mondeo), Honda Accord and Nissan Altima.

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Nissan Takes 2013 Altima V8 Supercar to the Track for its First Shakedown

Nissan's all-new 2013 entry into the league of extraordinary Australian V8 Supercars was only just revealed to the press last Thursday, but the Kelly Racing team that will field four Altima sedans in the championship has already gone to work trying out the car on the tarmac.

On Friday, the AU$1.5 million racing model was rolled-out at Calder Park Raceway for the first part of aerodynamic testing with Todd Kelly being the inaugural driver to get some time behind the wheel.

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New 2013 Nissan Altima V8 Supercar Unveiled in Melbourne

Nissan has whipped the covers off its brand-new contender for next year's Australian V8 Supercars Championship, the 2013 Altima Supercar V8 Supercar, during a special event on Tuesday morning in Melbourne.

The Nissan Altima will be the first new entry in the series that has been restricted to Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores for the past two decades.

The Japanese carmaker has partnered with Kelly Racing and will field four entries under the Nissan Motorsport banner for the 2013 championship.

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New Nissan Pathfinder May Be Based on the Altima, But Execs Not Sure if They'll Offer a Hybrid Variant

Even though there's no way of telling just by looking at the all-new 2013 Nissan Pathfinder SUV and Altima sedan and the 2013 Infiniti JX crossover, but all three models share the same platform architecture.

Given that Nissan has long confirmed the development of a new hybrid powerplant for the 2013 Altima that will comprise a 2.5-liter supercharged inline-four gasoline engine linked to a compact CVT package incorporating a single electric motor and two clutches plus a lithium-ion battery, it's only reasonable to believe that it could be offered on the Pathfinder.

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"Shorty Superbad" is Fan-Created Rap Song for the 2013 Nissan Altima Sedan

As part of a promotional campaign that took place in May this year, Nissan invited five Facebook fans from America to test drive the all-new 2013 Altima sedan, amongst whom was Kris Cash, a rapper and filmmaker.

During the recording of test drive, Cash told Nissan representatives that he had made a music video for his own, previous generation Altima. "I love my 2007 Altima so much that I made my own music video commercial on YouTube" he told Nissan.

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Nissan Comes Out with Four New Ads for 2013 Altima Sedan

With sales of the all-new 2013 Altima well underway, Nissan is now rolling out a new marketing campaign for the mid-size sedan model that competes head on with the likes of the Toyota Camry, Chevrolet Malibu and Volkswagen Passat. Read more »

Nissan wants to go Global with New U.S.-Made 2013 Altima Sedan, Triple Exports

Nissan has very high hopes for the newly introduced 2013 Altima sedan, the first series production models of which rolled off the assembly line in Smyrna, Tennessee, on May 15, and in Canton, Mississippi, on June 6.

The Japanese company not only wants to surpass last year's sales of 295,790 Altimas in the States, which landed it in second place in the mid-size segment, some 42,000 units behind Toyota's best-selling Camry, but also expand its reach to more global markets.

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New Photo Gallery of 2013 Nissan Altima Sedan

With the start of North American production of the all-new 2013 Altima earlier this week, Nissan released a fresh batch of pictures of its sedan model.

The 2013 Altima is critical to Nissan's plan to increase sales in North America with the Japanese automaker targeting to beat the Toyota Camry in the popular mid-size sedan segment.

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Nissan Begins Series Production of 2013 Altima Sedan in Smyrna

The first series production version of the all-new 2013 Altima has rolled off the assembly line at Nissan's Smyrna plant in Tennessee.

The Japanese carmaker has built more than 4.4 million examples of the four previous generations of the Altima since production started in Smyrna in 1992, a decade after the plant came to life.

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Poll: Which is the Best Looking New Sedan of the New York Auto Show?

If you've been following our coverage of the 2012 New York Auto Show, you will no doubt have noticed that a significant number of automakers revealed brand new sedan offerings.

In the full-size category, we have the near-premium 2013 Acura RLX, which is somewhat misleadingly labeled as a concept study, and the mainstream 2014 Chevrolet Impala.

The mid-size segment is represented by the Fisker Atlantic showcar, which like the RLX, is more or less production ready, the 2013 Lexus ES, the 2013 Lincoln MKZ, the 2013 Nissan Altima and the 2013 Toyota Avalon, which has been re-categorized as a mid-size model.

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A Video Walkaround of the New 2013 Nissan Altima Sedan

Nissan's presence at the ongoing 2012 New York Auto Show is marked by the world premiere of the 2013 Altima mid-size sedan, which is a very important model for the Japanese automaker.

In 2011, the current Altima ranked as the second best-selling passenger car in the U.S behind the Toyota Camry. Nissan believes that the new model can do even better.

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2013 Nissan Altima Sedan Pictures Leak Online, Looks Like a Mini Maxima

We're not sure if Nissan was planning to reveal its next-gen Altima sedan ahead of the car's world premiere at the New York Auto Show on Wednesday, April 4, but either way, a first batch of pictures along with preliminary specs and prices were unloaded online today.

The new Altima sports a sleeker and crispier design than its predecessor, evidently inspired from the larger Maxima. The mid-size sedan's interior is also new, but appears to be less exciting than the exterior in terms of styling.

"The safe thing to do would be to follow other automakers' paths, conservatively evolving the Altima so as not to upset the existing owner base. But that would not be in keeping with Nissan's 'Innovation for All' philosophy," commented Brian Carolin, Vice President of Nissan N.A.

"We took our most successful model and changed nearly everything – the look, the feel, the driving experience and, of course, the technology down to even the headlights and windshield wipers."

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