2015 Nissan Z may be lighter, leaner

Mythos219

Exactly. These low volume cars aren't profitable which isn't a big deal if its not impacting the bottom line. Its a different story now exacerbated by the fact that the Yen is stronger than the dollar. Part of the strategy is to reduce imports and part of it is to diffuse costs by boosting sales, exactly Nissan's plan for the Z by making it appeal to a broader audience (READ: We're going to make it cheap and affordable which will increase units).

Reconceptualizing the Z would do the latter and given the relative success of the FRS/BRZ makes the most sense. I say relative b/c the North American market overwhelmingly gravitates towards American cars when it comes to sports cars. But it looks to me like Nissan is taking a page out of the Toyota playbook - make it cheap and affordable and give it measurable performance and we'll move more units which will make out balance sheet look better.