Nissan Sentra Gets a Facelift in China that Suggest Styling Changes Are on the Way for U.S.

José Rodríguez Jr.

March 10, 2023 at 5:30 PM·3 min read

The latest generation of the Nissan Sentra debuted in the U.S. only three years ago, but the formerly small sedan could get a facelift soon if the latest changes to its Chinese cousin are any indication, according to Carscoops.

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The Chinese-market Nissan Sylphy, which is basically the same as the B18 Sentra, has just undergone a redesign that brought subtle changes to the exterior and added some refinement to the interior, namely with a larger infotainment screen that relies on touch-based shortcuts — our favorite.

As with any facelift nowadays, the Nissan Sylphy’s makeover focuses on its front and rear bumpers to make the car look sleeker. The Sylphy’s front end has a bigger grille, per Carscoops, but it seems to not extend fully down like the grille of the current Sentra. It’s a small change, but a welcome one. I guess I’m just eager for modern car design to move on from its top-to-bottom grille obsession.

The Sylphy also looks sleeker at the front courtesy of new headlights, which aren’t really new; they’re just sporting a different look, which is most obvious in the shape and orientation of the daytime running LEDs. The little changes add up to a new design that hardly changes the previous, but that’s for the best!

The latest Nissan Sentra, or Sylphy, brought big changes to the sedan that made the outgoing model look almost frumpy by comparison. The only downside is that the eight-generation Sentra was larger than the seventh, but that’s par for the course now as the Honda Civic and other “small” sedans have shown.

Continuing with the theme of changes we’re not always fond of is the new infotainment in the Sylphy, which comes with a larger 12.3-inch touchscreen that reportedly features touch-sensitive shortcuts. Touch-sensitive is never as sensitive as the name implies, however, and drivers are left stabbing at nothing while carmakers insist that there is, indeed, something there. Good thing the Sylphy still comes with physical HVAC controls, and even the old analog cluster.

The facelift carries over the major mechanical components of the Sylphy sold in China, meaning it’ll still be powered by a 1.6-liter straight-four engine or by 1.2-liter engine mated to an electric motor. It’s also known as Nissan’s e-Power drivetrain, and it’s a neat configuration that yields greater fuel efficiency— up to 78 miles per gallon in something like the Japanese-market Nissan Note Aura.

The e-Power setup improves performance somewhat, but the series hybrid tech is mostly for the sake of improving the HEV’s range per tank of gas, which sounds like an oxymoron. The styling changes coming to the U.S. model are likely a given, but the big question is whether the 2024 Nissan Sentra will come with the option for an e-Power drivetrain. Sadly, the answer is probably no.