Could Nissan Give Us the Most Affordable Car?MotorTrend - MotorTrend (MotorTrend - MotorTrend)The Nissan Versa subcompact sedan was the cheapest new car you could buy in America for the 2025 model year, and for part of that time, the Versa S equipped with the five-speed manual transmission was the last new car of any kind you could buy in the U.S. for less than $20,000.But then the Versa S manual was quietly dropped in May 2025, and by the end of the year, Nissan had stopped selling the Versa for the U.S. market altogether. Assembled in Mexico and suddenly subject to a 25 percent tariff, it was no longer a financially feasible proposition for Nissan to keep selling it in America. The Versa is still sold in Mexico and other markets.Does Nissan still see a market for ultra-affordable vehicles like the Versa in North America? “I think so, but there is context,” Nissan Motor Corporation president and CEO Ivan Espinosa told us. Demand and tariffs can be competing forces. “The question is how to get to the right price,” Espinosa said. “If the tariffs are adjusted, we have cars that can be very competitive like Kicks and Sentra, ready to go.” The Kicks subcompact SUV and Sentra sedan are also produced in Mexico and remain two of the cheapest new cars you can buy in America.AdvertisementAdvertisementNissan already had to cut some lower trims of the Kicks and Sentra that the CEO said were at the edge of profitability. “But the cars are there and ready. If the context changes we would bring both,” Espinosa added. “We would add more. We have the capability and competitiveness with our Mexico operation.”The company has studied moving Sentra and Kicks production to the U.S., but it wouldn’t be easy to do so, according to Nissan Americas Chairman and CEO Christian Meunier. “But a 25 percent tariff on entry level vehicles is not sustainable,” he added.Nissan Kicks made in Mexico, subject to tariffs.MotorTrend - MotorTrend (MotorTrend - MotorTrend)Tariffs on Mexican-made ModelsNissan Americas chief product & planning officer Ponz Pandikuthira is optimistic the tariff situation with Mexico will be worked out and there will continue to be a future for the Sentra and Kicks that are made there. It’s taking longer than he thought, but it is a strategic necessity to get the border issue worked out.In the interim, the automaker is optimizing trims, dropping base levels, and looking at how it can increase the content of cars built in Mexico with American parts. Meunier said the company is also working to identify what is made by U.S. suppliers to claw back some of the tariff costs, including emphasizing the fact that a lot of the research, development, and crash testing of vehicles is done in Michigan, in the hopes that Nissan can get credit for that.AdvertisementAdvertisementNissan has also been applying pressure on the Mexican government to help bridge the financial gap until the tariffs come down, hopefully with the renegotiation of the USMCA trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, which is up for review in July. “Twenty-five percent is hard to swallow, especially on product with little margin,” Meunier said. He thinks the tariffs will come down, given that other countries only pay 15 percent. “That is not fair or smart when Mexico is a neighbor.”Upcoming Nissan Xterra will start under $40,000.Nissan - MotorTrend (Nissan - MotorTrend)Nissan Xterra for Less Than $40,000As for affordability in general, Meunier admitted that Nissan could be better on that front. “We lost our way a little bit, putting a lot of technology for the sake of it, adding features and cost to our cars and we we’re gonna stop doing it,” he said. The new Nissan Xterra SUV, coming in 2028, is a symbol of this new approach.“We will bring it [Xterra] in for below $40,000 with everything you need, nothing you don’t, which was the slogan from 2002, and we believe is right for the brand and where it should go,” Meunier said. “We need to find a way to keep product, even exciting product, affordable.” With the average transaction price in the U.S. hovering around $50,000, Meunier believes Nissan and its dealers have an opportunity to deliver models that stand out stylistically and do it at a lower price point.Unlike some automakers, Nissan also sees a future for sedans. The Sentra has moved up in the segment from a style and amenities standpoint and is now playing where the lower trim of the Altima used to be, Espinosa said. And the new Infiniti Q50 sport sedan is coming soon for Nissan’s luxury brand, based on the next-generation Nissan Skyline. Although a sedan below the Sentra might make sense at some point, for now it’s simply too difficult with today’s tariffs. The automaker will continue to study the market, but the CEO thinks he has all the sedans he needs at the moment.CVTs will continue to be offered in cars like Nissan Sentra.MotorTrend - MotorTrend (MotorTrend - MotorTrend)Keep Offering CVTs?What is the future of the continuously variable transmission that Nissan has embraced more than most automakers? “It is still working on small cars. We have improved the technology a lot,” Espinosa said. He went on to say that CVTs work well on light-duty cars up to C-segment or compact in size, while recognizing they aren’t ideal for larger vehicles, where Nissan has moved to a more conventional transmission approach.He hasn’t completely ruled out using a different transmission for a smaller car with some pizzazz, however. “If I want to make an affordable car that is sporty, instead of making a spicy Sentra, I would probably go and make a Sylvia, an affordable sports car,” he said, but was also quick to add, “I’m not saying I’ll do it.”