Finding an affordable new car has only gotten harder in recent years as automakers bow out of cheaper, less profitable segments. It’s only about to get worse too, as Nissan reportedly plans to discontinue the subcompact Versa sedan, one of the cheapest cars sold in the United States.
“People familiar with the plans” imparted the development to Automotive News, which says the Versa will be canned next April to conclude the 2025 model year early. There’s apparently no next-generation model coming, which means the Versa will depart the subcompact car segment around the same time as the doomed Mitsubishi Mirage (both of which are selling great as of late). That’ll leave the U.S. market completely bereft of subcompact cars, with only pricier subcompact crossovers and premium superminis from Fiat and Mini as alternatives. [retching sounds]
This also means Nissan’s sedan lineup is being almost totally culled, with the Maxima discontinued last year and the Altima on death row. Granted, the latter has received a stay of execution, which will reportedly see the Altima carry on into model year 2026 (and presumably, production into that calendar year). Nissan’s last sedan standing will be the compact Sentra, which was reportedly the brand’s second-bestselling model through the first half of 2024.
Nissan declined to comment on the Versa’s alleged discontinuation, describing Automotive News‘ report as “speculation.”
“We’ve not made any such announcements, and Versa remains an important part of our lineup,” a spokesperson said. “We continue to invest in sedans to offer great looking cars equipped with customer-centric technologies. Sedans remain an important part of our company’s product strategy, providing advantages across several attributes, including cost of ownership.”
Excluding the Mirage, the cheapest new car after the Versa is the compact Kia Forte sedan, which starts at $21,145 delivered. Compared to the $17,245 of the base Versa, that’s almost a 23-percent increase—a consequential difference to buyers at the low end of the market. The end of the Versa will only make new cars even harder to afford than they already are, with Americans’ incomes stagnating against an ever-increasing cost of living in a crumbling economy. (If you’re about to cite the Dow Jones in the comments, please go listen to the song Hall & Oates wrote for you.)
Obviously, automakers expect us to shell out ever more money that we don’t have for more car than we need. Once again, the auto industry is setting itself up to be undercut by new players like it has in the past. It doesn’t have to wait for the come-to-Jesus moment of the next economic collapse (or when Chinese cars finally start trickling in), but it seems that’s the future automakers have collectively decided on.
Update: Jul. 11, 7:00 p.m. ET: A Nissan spokesperson did not comment on the Versa’s reported discontinuation. They emphasized the role sedans currently (and will continue to) play in the brand’s lineup.
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