GARDENA, CA – Nissan Motor Co. will offer its gasoline-electric Altima model in the Northeastern U.S. and California. The 2007 model will be available early next year in California, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Jersey. Sales are being limited to states that have adopted versions of California’s zero-emissions vehicle mandate, which requires the largest automakers to offer hybrids. “We have capacity to make up to 50,000 hybrids, which is more than we expect to sell in those states,” said spokesman Kurt Von Zumwalt, who is based at Nissan’s North American unit in Gardena, Calif. “We’ll have capacity to do more, but any decision to expand sales will be based on consumer demand and a positive business case.”