Nissan Shows First Image of Refreshed 2010 Altima

Nissan revealed a partial shot of the 2010 Altima today, and it appears the company’s midsize sedan will get more substantive styling updates than the Sentra’s and Versa’s 2010 visual changes, which amounted to a hill of beans. It looks like the 2010 Altima trades the current model’s one-piece air dam for separated fog-light portals, however, it doesn’t adopt the boomerang-shaped headlights seen on the redesigned Z and Maxima. The 2010 Altima’s lights have been tweaked from the 2009 model’s (see below) but not drastically so.

The current-generation Altima has been around since the 2007 model year. A full redesign is still a ways off, but 2010 should bring some major updates. It could mean a retuned continuously variable automatic transmission that ekes out 1 or 2 mpg better than the current four-cylinder with automatic’s 31-mpg highway rating. You’ll likely see standard stability control (right now it’s optional) to keep up with all of the Altima’s major competitors. The cabin will probably see some modest changes, too.

We’ll let you know when we have more details, but if you’re thinking of buying an Altima, you might want to wait a few more weeks to see what’s in store.