Why Nissan NEEDS an Affordable RWD Sports Car

[Bubba1]

If you develop a great reputation and sell a lot more lower marign units, you still make more money, both at the time and in the long run.

That makes sense, but we're talking Nissan here. I'm sure in 1989 they wanted a big enough differentiation between the S13 and Z32 to maximize sales of both segments (modest priced/low margin 4 cyl sporty coupes + higher margin/priced luxury laden V6 sports cars). Plus, I don't believe Nissan wanted to spend the money required to get the turbo motor approved for the US market, especially when the n/a engine's power was already comparable with its competition at that time.

[RicerX]

So now that the Altima Coupe is dead... (officially)...

could this mean that Nissan is trimming the fat and making room here?

On a related note, I've seen a spike in interest in the S2000 lately. Seem to be getting a lot of press on Jalopnik and such lately. That is another car that fits the bill of things like a 240/BRZ, even though it was closer to a Z.

And what does everyone make of the $3000 price drop for the 370Z coupe?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

The price drop was definitely required for the Z. Then Yen got weaker, so everyone benefits

[addicted4life]

Buddy of mine just bought a brz, because there was no modern Nissan that was comparable. He likes Nissan, loves my 300, and any of the 90s jap powerhouses but wanted reliability for commuting. Nissan is still losing here!

[IBCoupe]

albeit with a more upright front fascia in order to comply with the completely asinine "pedestrian safety" standards.

Seriously. WHO IS SUPPORTING THIS s***?! Nobody, NOBODY I know who is aware of it has anything good to say about it.

It might be a byproduct of avoiding high repair bills in fender-benders. From Edmunds:

One key area still challenging engineers in most U.S. vehicles is the front bumper. For vehicles in Europe and Asia (where there are many more pedestrian collisions and governmental standards regulating them), bumpers are designed with larger crush space and with different supports for the plastic bumper cover in order to reduce leg injury. Unfortunately, these "softer" bumpers don't perform well in the 5-mph bumper test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) to assess repair costs, so they generally aren't used on vehicles in the U.S.

In the U.S., there's a preference for designing cars around the occurrence of hitting other cars at the expense of designing cars around the occurrences of other kinds of collisions.

And I'm still waiting, Nissan. Right now, it's a difficult thing for me to know where my permanent address is (and, thus, where to buy and register a car), so I can stand to wait. Need to get back to the U.S. and drag my Altima to a CarMax, though.

[AZhitman]

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

[insert disappointed groan here]

Toyota plans on launching a third sports car that will be smaller than the Scion FR-S, Tetsuya Tada, FR-S' chief engineer. The car will be priced below $20,000 and feature a lightweight build.

Prior to the last decade, Toyota sold a trio of sports cars that catered to a relatively wide spectrum of the new car market. Even now the names of those sports cars, Supra, MR2 and Celica, hold a certain cachet with performance buyers, despite Toyota losing its way and dropping all three model lines years ago.

In the next several years, Toyota will once again have a trio of sports cars in its lineup, and while they may feature new names the spirit of those old nameplates will at least be able to live on in the new cars. Already we have the GT 86, which is sold here as the Scion FR-S, but soon there will be a mid-size sports car that some are already calling a Supra and beyond that there are plans to launch a third sports car that is described as being smaller than the FR-S.

The information was revealed by the FR-S’ chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada.

"We have started on the car below the 86. It is not yet decided if it will be two-seat or two-plus-two; we are developing the concept now."

Tada went on to reveal that the new sports car will be lightweight, feature rear-wheel drive and be priced below $20k. He also said that all three Toyota sports cars will have rear-wheel drive.

We should have more details soon, as Toyota plans to unveil a new performance concept at next month’s 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show that’s said to leverage technology used in the automaker’s TS030 Hybrid Le Mans prototype.

Note, Toyota is not alone in its desire to launch more fun and affordable sports cars. Chevrolet is toying with the idea of launching a new, rear-wheel-drive sports car positioned below the Camaro and Nissan plans to introduce a sports model below its 370Z, though this is expected to be a front-wheel-drive hatch of some sort.

Wait a minute. What did that say?

"Nissan plans to introduce a sports model below its 370Z, though this is expected to be a front-wheel-drive hatch of some sort."



We give up, Mr. Palmer. You win. You were right all along. There just aren't enough front-wheel-drive hatchbacks on the market. We're all so lost without another Versa... whatever shall we do?

[dre1507]

Am I the only one who's laughing my face off at the Nissan portion of this update? Sad, but oh so funny. Nissan just can't seem to fail when it comes to delivering news NICO doesn't care about.

[el_blacky06]

Even with our contribution to what we really want from Nissan they still can't get things right. I guess it's the last time Im gonna purchase a brand new car from nissan.

[Noxy]

Your post started out with a sort of exciting tone, bit it fizzled when it got to Nissan haha.

I think if Chevy decides to do their sub-Camaro, and it takes off, or if another company starts a similar car then Nissan might come out of there shell a bit and join in. However, if they wait too long to enter the market then it could possibly backfire when their sales are low because the market is flooded with rear drive small sport cars. But I'm sure someone here has mentioned something like that..

[Bubba1]

Perhaps Mssrs. Palmer and Ghosn believe they will dazzle us with a NISMO Versa Crossover.

Bottom line is we'll have to wait and see what they do. I'm willing to keep an open mind.

[WDRacing]

Chevy could just use their plans for the Sky and Solstace and jump into the market in a fairly short amount of time.

When I consider a 370Z, Nissans only "affordable sports car", I think to myself should I be interested in this or buy a used C5 and have enough left over for wheels, tires and gas for 5 years? Guess which way I lean?

[frapjap]

Nissan plans to introduce a sports model below its 370Z, though this is expected to be a front-wheel-drive hatch of some sort.

[krash]

There is no hope. No hope at all.

Is this what Palmer was hinting at earlier with the "watch this space" he threw in every here and there? The fail is so strong that I don't even know what to say. They have to be purposefully wanting to build crap. Who in their right mind would release a fwd car and market it as a "sports car" to compete with toyota's trio. Good god I'm at a loss for words.

[dre1507]

I think Krash is onto something. Someone's lining Ghosn's and Palmer's pockets to purposely build crap and compete on a massively subpar level in the sports car market.

[nissangirl74]

Bottom line is we'll have to wait and see what they do. I'm willing to keep an open mind.

Me too. I don't think it's impossible for Nissan to build something cool. They've done it before (we've got a garage full of them), they just aren't doing it right now. I'd consider a Nissan purchase if they ever decide to once again build something I want in our price range (fun, sporty,cool, etc.). However, in the meantime, there are 4 Mazdas in our driveway as DDs.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I still can't shake this feeling that it's weird as all hell to be more excited about Toyota's upcoming lineup than Nissan's.

....I don't think this has ever happened.

[AZhitman]

I still can't shake this feeling that it's weird as all hell to be more excited about Mazda's upcoming lineup than Nissan's.

....I don't think this has ever happened.

FTFY.

[float_6969]

Hey now, Toyota couldn't hold the title of ultimate blandmobile manufacturer forever. Now it's Nissan's turn!

[sx moneypit]

Hey now, Toyota couldn't hold the title of ultimate blandmobile manufacturer forever. Now it's Nissan's turn!

[Bubba1]

I think Krash is onto something. Someone's lining Ghosn's and Palmer's pockets to purposely build crap and compete on a massively subpar level in the sports car market.

I disagree. I think their motivation is to simply sell as many new vehicles as possible at the highest margin possible, which can help explain, for example, why they eliminated transmission choices to that gawd-awful CVT only, and put almost zero money into their sports/sporty cars. And before anyone cites the 370Z and GT-R, ask when was the last time Nissan sank any real development money into them. Nissan made it worse for themselves by "polishing the turd". That is, marketing obvious non-sporty cars as sporty to compensate for a lack of development. Who can forget their disastrous "4DSC" marketing campaign for an overstyled, FWD, CVT only full sized Maxima?

Sad thing is Nissan is making the same error Toyota made a few years ago by not investing properly in sporty/sports cars. Toyota is now correcting that mistake by introducing 3 new sports car models. The first one, the FRS/BRZ, is a simple, old fashioned RWD sports car with a 3rd pedal), and they hit a home run with the dang thing. You'd think Nissan would avoid the same train wreck after watching Toyota go thru it.

Mr. Palmer teased us by saying wait and see what they're gonna do. As Bex said, we all know Nissan is capable of building great sports cars. But if they go cheap again and offer a FWD CVT vehicle and attempt to label it sporty, it will be clear to the enthusiast community that Nissan's lost their mojo. But I say let's give Mr. Palmer a chance to impress. Who knows? They might build something great again. I'm hoping they do.

[nissangirl74]

I think their motivation is to simply sell as many new vehicles as possible at the highest margin possible

Been on ANY rental car lot lately? You can't swing a dead cat without hitting an Altima or a Versa. Since rental cars are notoriously abused, I wonder how long it will take for the rental car companies to start having catastrophic CVT failures in their lineup? I foresee a lot of these ending up on the auction block, probably well before a huge profit margin is reached.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Crazy as it may sound, I wouldn't be surprised if the cvt was much more reliable than any transmission found from Chrysler rentals of yesteryear.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Chevrolet is toying with the idea of launching a new, rear-wheel-drive sports car positioned below the Camaro

Chevy Solstice, anyone? If they can do with a small platform what they did with the ATS, it could be a real contender.

[Bubba1]

Chevrolet is toying with the idea of launching a new, rear-wheel-drive sports car positioned below the Camaro

Chevy Solstice, anyone? If they can do with a small platform what they did with the ATS, it could be a real contender.

I had a coworker that worked as a QA supervisor (Quality Assurance)on the line at the GM Wilmington Plant, when they assembled the Solstice there. Based on his disturbing stories of what was GM considered acceptable there, I would never want to own one.

[skydragoness]

However, in the meantime, there are 4 Mazdas in our driveway as DDs.

Four? Huh? MSPD 3, MSPD MX-5, what are the other two? Does Greg still have the non-turbo NB? I'm out of the loop

I still can't shake this feeling that it's weird as all hell to be more excited about Mazda's upcoming lineup than Nissan's.

....I don't think this has ever happened.

FTFY.

Same here. I'm actually very excited about the new Miata yet-to-be-seen. They're keeping it pretty top secret and are addressing the complaints of the NC gen. I hope it's the most aggressive looking Miata yet.

Been on ANY rental car lot lately? You can't swing a dead cat without hitting an Altima or a Versa.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I had a coworker that worked as a QA supervisor (Quality Assurance)on the line at the GM Wilmington Plant, when they assembled the Solstice there. Based on his disturbing stories of what was GM considered acceptable there, I would never want to own one.

Well obviously I'm not talking about one of those Solstices, as they sort of stopped making them several years ago.

I'm talking about what would be its modern counterpart.

[Rev_D21]

Just glad Mr. Palmer didn't tell us to hold our breath.

[TurboSauce]

Perhaps Mssrs. Palmer and Ghosn believe they will dazzle us with a NISMO Versa Crossover.

Did you mean? : NISMO Versa Crosscabriolet?

[krash]

Perhaps Mssrs. Palmer and Ghosn believe they will dazzle us with a NISMO Versa Crossover.

Did you mean? : NISMO Versa Crosscabriolet?

Good grief I threw up a little just hearing that name.

Nissan might be doing good for their pockets by selling large amounts of blandmobiles. Becky is right, they're all over the rental car lots and their all over the cities. However, in my opinion, a car company should be about more than just making a buck. What sets you apart from the rest? They have a bunch of A to B people movers. Anyone can build that. It seems to me like the "spirit" is gone or starting to go. They still have the Z which is an amazing car and the GT-R which has been a great accomplishment. But you can't hide behind those two cars and then just make a bunch of crap. Let the innovation and the fun from those high end sports cars trickle down to every car you make. Offer the consumer FUN cars that you can drive to work everyday. Dont give me this crossover cross cabriolet cross this cross that nonsense.

[TurboSauce]