At the recent Beijing Motor Show, Nissan unveiled a new global sedan which it said would be the basis for an all-new Sentra that will be sold in the United States. The car unveiled in Beijing was the Nissan Sylphy, the Asian version of the Sentra. Nissan executives said that the Sylphy is similar to the 2013 Nissan Sentra SR model.

The current Nissan Sentra is one of the oldest cars in the compact sedan segment, last redesigned six years ago. It has been criticized for its dated styling, as well as a noisy engine when equipped with the CVT and a harsh ride over rough surfaces. As a result, the Total Car Score rating for the 2012 Nissan Sentra is 68.13, well below the 74.68 average rating for the compact car segment. Nissan said that the 2013 Nissan Sentra, which is slated to go on sale this fall, will bring "a new level of refinement and innovation to the segment."

The 2013 Nissan Sentra is third vehicle in a product redesign campaign that Nissan will unveil over about 15 months. Nissan has already unveiled redesigned versions of the Nissan Altima and Pathfinder, both of which will arrive in showrooms this summer.