????隨著中型家轎市場的競爭愈演愈烈，日產(chǎn)汽車公司（Nissan Motor Co.）希望新款天籟（Altima）能成為手中的終極武器，借此與頭號(hào)競爭對(duì)手豐田（Toyota）一較高下。

????第五代天籟于本月15日投入量產(chǎn)，預(yù)計(jì)將于今年夏天在美國發(fā)售。天籟在美國的銷量已經(jīng)超過了本田雅閣（Honda Accord），因此它有機(jī)會(huì)成為美國最受歡迎的轎車?，F(xiàn)在日產(chǎn)公司希望天籟能在一年內(nèi)超過目前銷量排名第一的豐田凱美瑞（Toyota Camry）。

????日產(chǎn)一向以工藝出色出名，不過由于營銷手段令人印象不深，因此一直沒有對(duì)豐田和本田的銷量造成太大沖擊。日產(chǎn)的汽車一直存在叫好不叫座的現(xiàn)象，很難排到顧客認(rèn)知度的前幾位?，F(xiàn)在，日產(chǎn)正努力修補(bǔ)這塊短板。

????其實(shí)天籟的銷量也不算少了。根據(jù)來自日產(chǎn)公司的數(shù)據(jù)，自從第一代天籟于1992年推出以來，日產(chǎn)一共售出了大約440萬臺(tái)天籟。不過汽車網(wǎng)站Edmunds.com的分析師米歇爾?克瑞布斯稱：“天籟的銷量大量依賴租車公司，而不是零售，”因此很難積累零售客戶的口碑。她還補(bǔ)充道：“日產(chǎn)和馬自達(dá)（Mazda）這樣的公司很難突破”豐田和本田的市場占有率。

????田納西州州長比爾?哈斯拉姆上周二受邀來到田納西州士麥拿市的日產(chǎn)裝配工廠，出席新天籟的投產(chǎn)典禮。他說道：“如果我在肯塔基州喬治城的某個(gè)地方工作的話，我會(huì)很緊張自己能否保住第一名的位子。”喬治城正是豐田公司生產(chǎn)凱美瑞的地方。

????2012年的頭四個(gè)月，日產(chǎn)共售出112,599臺(tái)天籟，幾乎比去年同期多出30%。相比之下，本田雅閣同期的銷量只有96,517臺(tái)，豐田凱美瑞的銷量為142,225臺(tái)，雪佛蘭邁銳寶（Chevrolet Malibu）的銷量為80,456臺(tái)，福特（Ford）福星（Fusion）的銷量為85,559臺(tái)。

????日產(chǎn)北美副總裁比爾?克魯格認(rèn)為，銷量的增加主要?dú)w功于1999年經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)后日產(chǎn)全球生產(chǎn)體系的進(jìn)步。1999年，法國雷諾公司（Renault）買下了日產(chǎn)的部分股權(quán)并重組了日產(chǎn)。新生產(chǎn)體系使日產(chǎn)能夠在裝配工廠實(shí)現(xiàn)生產(chǎn)的優(yōu)化，靈活地生產(chǎn)五六種不同的車型，同時(shí)保證高質(zhì)量，并把最佳業(yè)務(wù)操作推廣到所有工廠?！盎A(chǔ)其實(shí)早就在那兒了，”克魯格說?！爸皇抢媒?jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)提升了整個(gè)體系?！敝劣谔旎[有幾分把握能超過凱美瑞，克魯格表示：“我們做出這些進(jìn)步不是為了當(dāng)老二的?！?/p>

????Nissan Motor Co. is betting its new Altima will be the ultimate weapon in its battle to top rival Toyota in the hard-fought market for family sedans.

????The fifth generation Altima began U.S. production on Tuesday, May 15 and goes on sale in U.S. dealerships this summer. It has a shot at becoming the most popular sedan in the U.S., having already passed Honda's Accord in sales. Now the company hopes it will out-sell Toyota's No. 1 Camry within a year.

????Nissan, long renowned for excellent engineering, is working hard to overcome a legacy of uninspired marketing that hasn't made much of a dent in Toyota's and Honda's sales. Nissan long made well-regarded vehicles that had difficulty reaching the front ranks of consumer awareness.

????Not that Nissan hasn't sold a lot of Altimas. The first generation rolled off the line in 1992 and, according to the company, Nissan has sold some 4.4 million units since. "[But the] Altima has relied heavily on sales to fleets, rather than retail," says Michelle Krebs, an analyst for Edmunds.com, an automotive website. That made gaining a reputation with retail customers difficult. "It's been hard for companies like Nissan and Mazda to break through" the marketing presence of Honda and Toyota, she adds.

????Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, who spoke at Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee assembly plant on Tuesday said "if I worked at a certain place in Georgetown, Kentucky I would be nervous about holding on to the No. 1 title." Haslam, who was invited to help inaugurate production of the new vehicle, was referring to the site of the Toyota plant where the Camry is assembled.

????In the first four months of 2012, Nissan sold 112,599 Altimas, almost 30% more than the same period last year. By comparison, Honda sold 96,517 Accords, Toyota sold 142,225 Camrys, Chevrolet sold 80,456 Malibus and Ford sold 85,559 Fusions during the same period.

????Bill Krueger, vice chairman of Nissan operations in the Americas, credited improvement in Nissan's worldwide manufacturing system following the crisis of 1999. At that time French automaker Renault bought a stake and reorganized the company. The system allows Nissan to optimize production at its assembly plants, which are flexible enough to build five or six different models, while keeping quality high and spreading best practices to all its plants. "The building blocks were always there," says Krueger. "It took the crisis to elevate the system." What about the Altima's chances of passing the Camry? "We didn't make all these improvements to be No. 2," he says.