The Nissan Altima is a mid-size automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 manufactured by Nissan, and is arguably a continuation of the Nissan Bluebird

Nissan Bluebird

Although Nissan's own materials indicate that the Bluebird name emerged in 1959, some records show that the name first adorned a 988 cc, four-door sedan in 1957, which was part of the company's 210 series...

 line, which began in 1957. It has historically been larger, more powerful, and more luxurious than the Nissan Sentra

Nissan Sentra

The Nissan Sentra is a compact car produced by automaker Nissan Motors and is generally a rebadged export version of the Japanese Nissan Sunny. The name "Sentra" is not used in Japan....

 but less so than the Nissan Maxima

Nissan Maxima

The first car to wear the Maxima name was introduced in 1981. It was essentially a Japanese-market Bluebird 910 with a longer nose. The car was offered as the 810 Deluxe or 810 Maxima that first year, and all 810s became Maximas for 1982...

. The Altima is available in North America as well as other markets. Nissan sells a related mid-size sedan called the Nissan Teana

Nissan Teana

The Nissan Teana is a luxury mid-size car produced by Nissan of Japan, introduced in 2003. It is exported as the Nissan Maxima and Nissan Cefiro to certain markets, not to be confused with the Nissan Maxima sold in North America with which it shares a platform .It is also exported to Mauritius as...

, built on the same FF-L

Nissan FF-L platform

The Nissan FF-L is an automobile platform for front wheel drive automobiles. It has been a huge success for the company, along with the rear wheel drive Nissan FM platform...

 platform used by the 2002–2006 Nissan Altima.

The name "Altima" originally referred to a trim line of the Nissan Laurel

Nissan Laurel

In April 1968 Nissan presented its new Laurel in four-door deLuxe and Super deLuxe versions, both equipped with a 1.8 L inline-four cylinder engine and independent rear suspension. In summer 1970 a hardtop coupé joined the line-up, one year later a 2000 cc engine became available...

 mid-size car

Mid-size car

A mid-size car is the North American/Australian standard for an automobile with a size equal to or greater than that of a compact...

 sold in Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 and the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 before 1992.