The next car to leak before its official debut at the New York’s biggest motoring event is the new Nissan Altima. As we had realized looking at the car’s numerous teaser pictures, the 2013 Altima is a scaled down Maxima, cheaper and more affordable. It is actually so good, it renders the Maxima pointless!

The car will hit the U.S. showrooms with a base price of  $21,500. For that you get a 182 hp and an estimated 180 lb-ft of torque engine, which works in tandem with a continuously-variable transmission (CVT) to deliver 38 mpg highway and 27 mpg city. If economy is not your priority, you can go for the 270-hp V6, which starts at $25,360. That too is optimised for better fuel efficiency, but it’s more about power and performance.

Official details and pictures of the car will be released soon.

via Autoguide