2012 Nissan Altima S Sedan 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Autoblog Podcast #317

Mitsubishi Mirage, Toyota thinks of beefing up US production, Marchionne on Alfa, Dart and minivans, Ford Atlas concept, Honda Gear concept
Episode #317 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Jeff Ross and Michael Harley bookend the other podcast topics with a pair from the Montreal Auto Show, the Mitsubishi Mirage and Honda Gear concept, and in between we talk about Toyota building all its US-market cars stateside, Hyundai building a Nurburgring test facility, Sergio Marchionne's latest words about Alfa Romeo, Dodge Dart powertrains and the future of Chrysler vans. Some chatter about the Ford Atlas concept finishes up the meat of the 'cast and then we wrap with your questions. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #317:

FCA-Renault merger faces tall odds delivering on cost-cutting promises

FRANKFURT/DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Renault promise huge savings from a mega-merger, but such combinations face tall odds because of the industry's long product cycles and problems translating deal blueprints into real world success, industry veterans told Reuters. BMW's 1994 purchase of Rover, and Daimler's 1998 merger with Chrysler both made sense on paper. The companies promised to hike profits by combining vehicle platforms and engine families. Both combinations proved unworkable in reality, and were unwound. Renault and Nissan, which have been in an alliance since 1999 designed to share vehicle components, have only managed to use common vehicle platforms in 35% of Nissan's products despite an original target of 70%, according to Morgan Stanley. FCA and Renault have raised the stakes for themselves by ruling out plant closures. That increases the pressure to achieve more than $5 billion in promised annual savings from pooling procurement and research investments. The two companies have yet to fill in many of the blanks in the merger plan put forward by Fiat Chrysler. Renault's board is expected to act soon to accept the proposal, but that would lead only to a memorandum of understanding to pursue detailed operational and financial plans. A final deal and the legal combination of the two companies could take months to complete if all goes well. Pressure to cut automotive pollution is driving the latest round of consolidation. Automakers are looking at multibillion-dollar bills to develop electric and hybrid cars and cleaner internal combustion engines. Fiat Chrysler and Renault are betting they can design common electric vehicle systems, then sell more of them through their respective brands and dealer networks, cutting the cost per car. Developing all-new electric vehicles can bring more opportunities to share costs from the outset, industry experts said. "With the emergence of connected, autonomous, electric and shared vehicles, carmakers face immediate investments, so new opportunities for sharing costs have emerged," said Elmar Kades, managing director at Alix Partners. However, most electric vehicles lose money. This is a challenge for city car brands in Europe in particular. Both Renault and Fiat rely heavily on this segment for sales.

Altima Coupe dead as Nissan charts the changes for 2014

The 2014 model year brings plenty of new designs and updates from Nissan - including the next-generation Rogue - but the Altima Coupe has been discontinued. The current generation of the Coupe won buyers over with sharp styling and, at one point, a 270-horsepower naturally aspirated V6 - the heart of the more upscale Infinity G37. It's unlikely that Nissan plans to make another one, but keep in mind the current Coupe was released to the public about a year after the sedan hit dealerships.
The vehicles joining Nissan's lineup for 2014 include the Versa Note hatchback, the NV200 Compact Cargo van and the next-generation Rogue compact SUV. Also new for 2014 is the Pathfinder Hybrid, but that will be added to the lineup in the fall.
Other models that are receiving enhancements are the sedan version of the Altima, which now comes standard with the CVT transmission and gets revised option packs; the Frontier, which gets updated option packs, enhanced navigation system functionality and a sliding middle rear window; the GT-R, which receives a bunch of small performance enhancements and, more importantly, initially will be offered in three versions (Premium, Black Edition and Track Edition), with another, limited special-edition model coming late in the year; the Versa sedan, all versions of which get 60/40-split fold-down rear seats and revised steering and suspension tuning; and last, but not least, the 370Z NISMO will have exterior accent color updates and a new steering wheel and tachometer.