• New York Times, Thursday, April 5, 2012 9:50 AM

Nissan unveiled the new Altima, America's second-best selling car last year, at the New York auto show this week. 

“With two million midsize sedans sold last year, this is the most competitive segment there is,” John Curl, Nissan regional product manager, said. Altima's challenge is that the segment is getting crowded with attractive vehicles from the competition. 

The Altima arrives in June at $22,280 to start, or $26,140 for the lowest-priced V-6 version. The Times' car guy Lawrence Ulrich says that while the Altima may be the lightest car in its class, "the styling is a bit ponderous and unresolved, with a thick slab of grille, woozy sine-wave character lines along the body and bulging, Camry-esque taillamps."

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