The Nissan Sentra is a compact car

Compact car

A compact car , or small family car , is a classification of cars which are larger than a supermini but smaller than or equal to a mid-size car...

 produced by automaker

Automaker

The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....

 Nissan Motors

Nissan Motors

, usually shortened to Nissan , is a multinational automaker headquartered in Japan. It was a core member of the Nissan Group, but has become more independent after its restructuring under Carlos Ghosn ....

 and is generally a rebadged export version of the Japanese Nissan Sunny

Nissan Sunny

The Nissan Sunny is a small car from Nissan. It was launched in 1966 as the Datsun 1000 and although production in Japan ended in 2004, it remains in production today for the African, American and Sri Lankan markets. In the US, the later models were known as the Nissan Sentra; in Mexico, the Sunny...

. The name "Sentra" is not used in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the Sentra currently serves as Nissan's compact car and the prices range from $15,478 for a base model to $23,478 for a loaded top-of-the-line Sentra. While previous Sentras were subcompact car

Subcompact car

Subcompact car is a North American term used to describe automobiles whose class size is smaller than that of a compact car, usually not exceeding in length, but larger than a microcar...

s, the Sentra has grown over the years, and now the Nissan Versa has replaced the Sentra in the entry-level area, although it is rated by the US EPA as a mid-size car

Mid-size car

A mid-size car is the North American/Australian standard for an automobile with a size equal to or greater than that of a compact...

 due to its interior volume.
The Nissan Sentra was introduced for the 1982 model year as the US export name for the Nissan Sunny

Nissan Sunny

The Nissan Sunny is a small car from Nissan. It was launched in 1966 as the Datsun 1000 and although production in Japan ended in 2004, it remains in production today for the African, American and Sri Lankan markets. In the US, the later models were known as the Nissan Sentra; in Mexico, the Sunny...

 (Named after a famous Japanese mobster) .