A DECISION on what Nissan will choose as its future Supercars weapon has taken a twist with the Altima model set to become obsolete in Australia.

The Japanese manufacturer has opted not to import any more examples of the four-door sedan into Australia once the remaining stocks of the existing Altima are sold.

“The reason relates to the investment required to update the Australian-market Altima’s engines to meet the new Euro 5 emissions standard in Australia,” Peter Fadeyev, general manager for corporate communications at Nissan Australia, told caradvice.com.au.

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“Nissan has decided to not make this investment, so, for now, the Altima won’t be in our new-vehicle catalogue in the future. As a result, production of the Altima sedan will stop for Australia.”

A replacement for the Altima bodystyle — the absence of which leaves no sedan in the current Nissan range — will be announced in the future.

What that means for Nissan Motorsport, who has raced the Altima body since its return to the championship in 2013, remains to be seen.

Nissan is committed to the sport until the end of 2018. With the new Gen2 rules package allowing the team to explore non-V8 and non-four door sedan options, Nissan’s local operations are working with the company’s performance and racing arm NISMO on a package for the championship’s new era.

The Altima has been Nissan’s Supercars weapon since 2013. Source: Supplied

Richard Emery, Nissan Australia CEO, last month said the company was hoping to lock down a plan by the middle of this year.

“On the engine program there has been, not serious work done, but a lot of information flow between Kellys and Nismo on what would be needed,” Emery told Supercars.com.

“We have a base with the GT3 engine so we’re not starting from scratch, we’re just taking one engine and turning it into a Supercar engine which is easier than what others are doing.

“We haven’t forced the discussion about fitting (the Nissan GT-R body) around the frame because we haven’t got near to a position where the GT-R is an option.

“At the moment I’d be sticking with a traditional sedan and I think Nismo would like us to stick with that too. GT-R they see as a GT racing car and that’s where they’d like to see it stay.”

Nissan Motorsport has been contacted for comment.