The simplest reason why we wont get a Z.
 

Infiniti says it will go

Basically. Our cars are gas engines. And Nissan/Infiniti is trying to be a Tesla competitor. They want to beat Tesla at their own game.
So enthusiasts mean nothing right now. We are considered dinosaurs. Our market is irrelevant. And with millenials and the new gen not interested in driving. Electric cars are the future and i cant stand it. At least...
Chevy, Ford and Dodge have not sold out for the cause.

The only ones Nissan is beating is themselves, beating off that is!

I posted the same article in the General section yesterday.

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...id-2021-a.html

I'm gonna be sick.

The electric car snowball is getting bigger.

All this talk of electric cars and I still seldom see any on the road. Maybe a Tesla a couple times a week and Volt every now and then. And I don't know anyone that owns, nor wants one.

That being said, I see even fewer Z on the road. And that makes me smile.

It all depends where you live. In So Cal, Teslas have become the luxury status sedan of choice. They're everywhere. Plus most office buildings and public offices in Ca now have charging stations.

Honestly it's why I bought a Z last year. My next car is probably going to be electric so I figured I should get something modern yet old school that can become my project car then.

True. When I lived in SoCal about a dozen years ago, the prius was everywhere. Here in the SE, not so much.

Barring the unlikely possibility of owning another Z or GT-R, I don't see myself ever owning another Nissan, and I'm just fine with that. They way they're going the next gen Z, if there ever is one, would likely be some bastardized version that tries to expand the targeted market at the expense of the enthusiast for whom the car was originally designed.

Get out of Cali, and you will find very few of them. I travel cross country a lot with a motorhome. Never seen them on the interstates. Unless it's close to a big city. Never seen a charging station on a interstate either.

^ How true.

Tesla knows exactly what it wants to be when it grows up. Whether it gets there or not is definitely up for debate. But Nissan seems incapable of identifying a goal, much less reinventing itself for the 21st century.

Of course, Chevy, Ford, and Dodge are pretty diverse and are even be able to service diverse specialty markets. Light and medium duty pickup trucks, commercial vehicles, electric/hybrids, people movers, sports/muscle cars, and specialty cars. No small feat, that.

The "enthusiast" market is irrelevant in terms of overall size and the share Nissan can command. At least the traditional "enthusiast" market. There is a whole new segment where that term applies, in the early adoption of electrics. This too, will pass once those cars become the norm.

Interestingly, Maserati is rumoured to be going all-electric too. There was talk of it entering a team in Formula E, but honestly I doubt that league will exist long enough (in its present form, anyway) for this to happen.

Teslas are fairly prevalent out west. There are more of them in town than my lonely 370z. Lol! We have a charging station at the Carl's Jr right off I-40. They are a dime a dozen in Las Vegas.

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Remember all those Carl's Jr commercials with smoking hot babes tearing into huge burgers...

I miss those.


Oh, anyway, I have yet to see my first charging station anywhere outside of a few in Oregon.

The first recharging station I seen was at Hershey Park 2 years ago. One local outlet mall just installed about a dozen of them. The problem is. Where they put them at. Was where the handicap used to park. And guess what. The handicap are still parking in those spots. If you have to recharge. It's not going to happen. :rofl2:

That's hilarious!!!! :icon17:

The simplest reason why where not getting a Z is because its the last letter of the alphabet?:ugh2::ugh2:

You can say that again bruh.

From this article looks like the next gen z is in the works.

https://www.carscoops.com/2018/01/ni...nning-officer/

This is the same article as in the other thread.

Yes. This isn't news. The enthusiast market is completely irrelevant from a profitability standpoint, because they don't buy cars in an amount large enough to move the needle. I'm still shocked that people expect a new z. Why? No one bought the Z34 in any meaningful numbers. Even if we get a new Z, there won't magically be 50k+ people who suddenly decide that a small two-seater makes sense. You're not getting a big share of the Vette market, and few people are cross shopping a Z with a 911.

So what's the play for the Z35 - move upmarket with more power, and hope that people buy a $50k+ Z, or move it downmarket and try to steal buyers from the rapidly shrinking GT86/BRZ market? It's a dead end, and I'm shocked they haven't just put a bullet in the Z34 and moved on. Killing it for 5-10 years would be a smart move, since that way they could at least build up enough demand to have a big first and second year pop like the 350 had.

Debbie Downer. But right on all counts.

Problem with enthusiast buyers isn't that we're, um, "enthusiastic" about the product. It's that we tend to buy and hold it. Nissan would far prefer you buy a new Altima every three years, over still owning a 2010 Z in 2018. But we tend to not put miles on these cars (half of the continent finds it hard to do in the winter months, anyway), and invest heavily in aftermarket goodies which are not conducive to selling or trading (or removing). So, despite there being a lot of us still out there, we don't represent a lot of yearly sales.

Of course, the bad news does rely on the notion that a new generation Z would fall into the same price, practicality, and performance category as the current model. In which case, it's doomed for financial failure off the mark. The Z34 works as the elderstatesman in the market of Toyota 86 / Miata / Fiat 124 / and a few hot hatches. Prettier lines than most, but far less practical than many and is losing the performance war every year. An engine transplant might have done it a few years ago, but by now the platform is so long in the tooth that such a move would be slaughtered by the automotive press. They know nothing, but buyers still read their drivel.

So, it might be better to re-invent the car the way the Corvette or higher end Camaro's have done to pull closer to the Cayman / F-Type benchmark for performance, slap an Infinity badge on it for brand cachet, and sell it at a considerable premium over the present model.

But then, we'll hear moaning and groaning from the "purists" on this board that Nissan left them out in the cold with the new car...

Truthfully, Nissan cannot win this one for trying. Which is likely whey they aren't.
That, and the fact that each Z34 that they move contributes to the bottom line. All development costs have long been covered.

All Nissan would have to do is. Give it a body style something like the F-Type/ C6. Tweak the chassis a little. It's already a good chassis. Update the the drivetrain. Update the interior.

Just remember what the product planner said though. Which is a point I been stressing since 2012 and people have tried to debate it on here with me. And now the productt planner said it. So he ha.... Paraphrasing he said.

They understand the relevance of Z heritage, it's not about the actual sales numbers as much as it is about what the car means for the brand.

The Halo car is named the halo, because all of the regular cars should have a model that it's suspension and transmission tuning is inspired by the sports car. In our brand, that model designation is SR. when you buy an SR model. You are that guy that wishes he could own a Z. Maybe only 5% of SR owners actually make their dream come true? But 150,000 SR models could be sold across the range based on the Z existing alone.

So Nissan is finally realizing this and sending out their wayward lackey message of hope to the media.

But the Z is in no way the Halo car for Nissan. I'd argue it never was after the first Skyline rolled off the line. In fact, it's likely that the new Z (if one ever exists) will be neutered so it doesn't compete too much with the GTR. It's the same reason Porsche will never have the regular Cayman keep up with the base 911.

We all understand your feelings on the electric part, but it's just the way things are going. As long as major manufacturers get obscene tax benefits for making EVs, and CAFE regs push them to focus on EVs so they can continue to make trucks and SUVs, nothing is going to change.

Look, we all want there to be a new Z. But people don't matter to car companies. Shareholders matter, and they expect a return on investment. The market has turned, and analog "old school" sports cars do not make a company money unless they can amortize it down by selling a lower trim model like a V6 Mustang. Unless Nissan has a plan for a base Z with a NA 4 cylinder it can sell to coeds and hairdressers, a proper Z is a hard sell to the bean counters. Even if the new CEO turns out to be the biggest enthusiast in history, unless the shareholders make money he'll be thrown out on his ***. Companies that cater to the enthusiasts and do not have mainstream success end up like Lotus and TVR.

Personally, I'd rather that they kill the Z completely rather than making one that's a disgrace to the name.

From this article at least we will see a z concept lol

https://www.carscoops.com/2018/02/ni...unced-chicago/

Yeah, what is it with Nissan, dressing up existing models in bizarre themes, instread of developing viable new product?

I know I'm that guy everyone wants to disagree with. But it makes no sense to contradict the Nissan product planner.
like I said. Nissan product planner already stated the Z means something in the way of inspiring sales throughout the brand.
So it's like you're defeating my point with your opinion and superseding Nissan's opinion that the car brings attention to the brand... Isn't that a halo car? A car that brings attention to the brand?

The GTR is a halo, but not in the same way as a Z. The Z is that car anyone can strive to purchase new. Where a GTR is just an ego car that serves a different aspect of the Halo group. The skyline couldn't even be a halo in the US as it spent 45 years a legend in Japan before they dropped the skyline name on the GTR n brought it here.

And Porsche did outdo the base 911 with the GT4.

If they even said that it proves they're getting nervous about the bad press surrounding the Z. They're probably starting to feel a minor backlash surrounding the Z and are trying to save themselves with weak press.

All the rest I agree. Car companies stopped caring in the 90's. They corrupted their own market by not being competitive in key moments and followed trends instead of setting them.

Wrong again :shakes head:

How many times has someone high up at Nissan came out and told us that the new Z is coming, that they haven't forgotten us, and that they've got a concept coming at one of the major auto shows? How many times has that actually been the case? Until they actually come to the table with more than talk, why should we believe them?

I see a lot of people saying the enthusiast market is dead and that we don't buy cars in high enough volume but I don't believe it to be true.

Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, Corvettes, 911s, they sell.

Other than the Vette and the 911, you can actually find practical use for those cars. Mustangs, Camaros and Challenger/Chargers come in many more flavours than "enthusiast". The higher ends don't really sell in huge numbers either.

911's sell for a different reason than 370Z's. But there are only so many dentists in the world.

The Vette sells because they take a good car and every few years make it an even better car (well, there were a few dog years in there, LOL). 25,000 copies moved of store shelves in the USA last year, and that's down for them from 34K in 2014. By comparison, the 370Z was 4,600 in 2017 and almost 7,400 in 2015. US 911 sales (all variants) were just shy of 9,000 units in the same period. Also down from 10,400 in 2014. In fact, sports car sales are down across the board.

Camaro - 68K down from 86K in 2014
Challenger/Charger 152K down from 160K in 2015
Mustang 81,800 vs 122,000 in 2015.

Corvette can share engine and suspension developments with other GM vehicles, and kind of is the sports car flag-bearer for the brand, which is probably how they keep it fresh.

Agreed. I definitely don't see 2ss Camaro not corvettes every day. Though I do see at least one 6gen Camaro every day. I don't feel like I'm living in a sea of SS Camaro's.

Part of the issue is also the consumer. That and the constant rise of costs. Enthusiast cars are a specific niche and in most cases not practical. When I was a kid my dad kept nothing but muscle cars and as the years went forward we saw sports/muscle cars few and far between. Wasn't that my father isn't or wasn't an enthusiast it's just the changing of the market. Even now being in my 30s with no children I find my Z very impractical for a daily but it's what I wanted and like most of you it's what you wanted. At the end of the day should I have gotten something more economical for a daily commuter? Possibly, but life is too short to drive boring cars lol

On going rumors if the next z lol

https://www.carscoops.com/2018/03/ni...s-benz-next-z/

That's yesterdays news. You're late. :rofl2: It's been covered in another thread.

:rofl2:

Since Mercedes has started going inline-6 again, I'd LOVE for that motor to make its way to a Z.

Then why not just get a Mercedes? I personally hate engine and platform sharing between car manufacturers.


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Don't wish that crap engine in my Nissan. Mercedes only wishes it could make a drivetrain like Nissan.