Next Gen Toyota Camry

[tbear]

I read the next generation Toyota Camry will be more sporty than the current one. Also, the engine is the 2AZ-EF used in Estima minivan, producing 160hp with VVT-i and double balancers.

September issue of MT also has sales figure of Toyota Camry, Taurus, Accord. THis year, it seems like Camry will be the best selling again, followed by Taurus, and trailed by Accord. Note that Taurus used to trail Accord but after the 2000 redesign, it becomes number 2!

What do you think it takes for Nissan to tople Toyota Camry as the best selling mid-size car, or at least to tople Accord?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

nissan needs more dealers, at least where i'm at. the area i live in has about 300,000 people and there's only one Nissan dealer

the car would have to look classy without being the least bit controversial. nissan should stress reliability in the advertising (reliability is what people seem to associate with camry's and accords)

[thearabian]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tbear:



What do you think it takes for Nissan to tople Toyota Camry as the best selling mid-size car, or at least to tople Accord?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Good question, unfortunately, the answer is very complicated.
Nothing short of a better Nissan image in the eyes of the consumer is going to make the Altima the #1 selling vehicle.
And that goes for the Maxima, Sentra, well you get the picture...

That was the philosophical part, now the practical, which is even harder to do.
1- Better car: More power, better road "feel" better interior materials, Excellent exterior styling, competitive price. This will take care of the reviews portion.
2- Better advertising: No weird commercials (Nissan Guy from 96-98), Much more coverage (flood the entire airwaves with the notion that NISSAN IS STILL HERE).
3- Better dealers: this might prove harder, most of the nissan dealers in my area are pittyful and i will not start storytelling.

[Max Ima]

A sportier Camry...hmmm. Toyota can't depart too much from the formula -- they don't want a "New Coke" on their hands. One thing I noticed that Nissan could try is the old art of "dumping." Both Honda and Toyota do a nice job of giving cars away early on. (See Acura TL for details.) Heck, a coupla times a year, Toyota gives 4-cyl Camry aways for something like $149 a month with no money down. Seems like if you have a 4-cyl/6-cyl model mix, you can dump the fours and make up the difference on the sixes.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Max Ima:
A sportier Camry...hmmm. Toyota can't depart too much from the formula -- they don't want a "New Coke" on their hands. One thing I noticed that Nissan could try is the old art of "dumping." Both Honda and Toyota do a nice job of giving cars away early on. (See Acura TL for details.) Heck, a coupla times a year, Toyota gives 4-cyl Camry aways for something like $149 a month with no money down. Seems like if you have a 4-cyl/6-cyl model mix, you can dump the fours and make up the difference on the sixes. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No dumping, please!

Do you know that Nissan lost about 1 billion dollars (IIRC) on sponsored Altima leases a couple of years ago ??? They were giving it away like that, for "low monthly payment!", but could not sell returned off-lease Altimas for the projected residual value.

So, doing it again will put a time bomb Nissan can't afford now. They have clearly stated that they need profit first, market share second.