So after the chats for the Z, GT-R, Sentra, Pathfinder, and now Frontier and Titan, I'm really at my wits end with this company.
I posted the following smart remark at the end of that thread:
Nissan. SHIFT_just kidding. It probably has a CVT.This just in - new NISMO Frontier. Unibody design for enhanced fuel economy, complete with a FWD CVT configuration topped off with a towing capacity of 500 pounds. Stickers? We got that siht too. Available in red, white, and silver so that we can say we're true to the Nissan Motorsport Heritage. Watch this truck debut at the Costco classic, a truck competition that crowns a winner on who can take home the most heads of iceberg lettuce while using the least gas. Nissan - Built For The Human Race... to the grocery store.
Now, while I didn't make it into the Frontier/Titan thread while the chat was happening, I have read through it and I'm completely underwhelmed to the point that my pulse would not fluctuate in the slightest if the above quote ever
came to fruition.
I currently own a 370Z for a couple reasons. I wanted a sports car and I wanted to support one of the few remaining efforts of Nissan I can get behind. I have always loved the Z car, and it is the only car I have seen from Nissan lately that I consider an improvement over its previous generation. (GT-R doesn't count - 99% of the North American market can't afford one.)
My daily driver? A Mazdaspeed3. I used to own an Altima Coupe before my daily needs outgrew a 2 door, and by the
time I was back in the market, the Altima no longer offered a manual transmission and I couldn't consider it, and I preferred a hatchback for utility, but didn't want a crossover. (A Juke? I'll keep it short - Nope.)
Since I have become a Moderator on this board, I have helped Nissan sell twelve new vehicles to people I know personally and speak to everyday. This isn't including the vehicles I have bought on my own (three new Nissans in the last couple years just because I have a car disease). As each model year goes by, on good conscience, I cannot keep referring people to this brand if I cannot be enthusiastic about what the brand is selling. Car purchasing is a big deal, especially in this economy, and buyers need to be 400% convinced that they signed the dotted line on something that is going to make them happy. My mother drives a 2011 Jeep Wrangler, not an Xterra. My father drives a 2011 Toyota Tundra, not a Titan. But my brother drives a 1991 240SX, not a 2013 Scion FR-S. He has faith. A faith that I'm losing.
Car buyers need to know they're buying the BEST.
The BEST cannot be dull or unengaging. The BEST cannot be subpar or underperforming. The BEST cannot be available only in vanilla or chocolate flavor. The BEST cannot ignore the competition - past, present, or future. The BEST cannot be poorly marketed or coast on laurels of the past. And finally, the BEST cannot be created by those who don't have the drive to make the product THE BEST. The BEST cannot be built by someone who has never used each and every feature of the current product to its maximum potential and specification on a day in-day out basis. The BEST cannot be built by those who do not understand what it takes to make the product the BEST at what it does.
I have participated in the chats for the Z, GT-R, Pathfinder, and Sentra. In each of those, I didn't detect an ounce of enthusiasm from those in charge of the product. Not one shred of information to make it worth it for us to go through the trouble to support an online chat like this. A serious PR opportunity to talk to the greatest single amount of Nissan Brand Champions on the web (your biggest advocates, or your biggest detractors) and get them pumped about the things to come, and each time it has been botched.
The guys that want to build the best crossover cannot build the best sports car, and vice versa. You cannot expect a soccer mom to understand the value of a full sized half ton pickup truck and its capabilities. You can't expect a businessman that spends more time in being driven around in a taxi than behind the wheel of his own car to understand the value of 30 more lb-ft of torque and 300 lbs less weight in the next gen Z car.
Just like I wouldn't understand the value of putting a dyson vacuum cleaner in the trunk of a minivan, I wouldn't expect my grandmother to understand my desire to pull a 1g turn in my sports car.
These chats have not shown me anything that gives me confidence in Nissan's ability to build the BEST. Period. I have seen plenty of pencil pushers, marketing graduates, and accountants be politically correct and "strategic" with answers. I haven't seen a single driver in any of this.
Keep up the good work Nissan. I have done half your marketing work for the finishing touches on the next generation of your product lineup in a single tagline: SHIFT_to Park.
, yet in the US market, with the exception of the 370Z, they've pretty much abandoned fun cars. Face it, the GT-R is 8 years old and is for the most part unchanged except for a increasing list price. Marketing a Juke as sporty was a joke, marketing a full sized FWD CVT-only family sedan a 4DSC was an utter embarrassment. They also neutered the rugged Pathfinder into a full sized unibody SUV looking minivan. 
Shall I go on?
