2015 Nissan Contingency Program

dkmura

Mazda is the only company I'm aware of that has a marketing campaign built around motorsports. Nissan's program is pretty much in line with what Toyota, Honda, BMW and VW offer. Ford, Chevy, Hyundai/Kia and Dodge have even less (or nothing). Most of those marketing decisions are based on return-on-investment (ROI) data. Mazda's program, while admirable, has been far from the norm for many years now and there's little to no ROI data to support copying it.

GSS138

Although maybe there isn't a direct number attributable to it, their support get's its ROI in different ways imo. Namely things like Spec Miata and all its awesome glory, a zillion people that will buy the new Miata, goodwill etc. Let's face it, no one buys American muscle as a track car.

Nissan's biggest problem is name brand recognition. They have started to step it up with pushing the Nismo brand, but they have a lot of make up work to do. For example, this year at Mazfest in CA, there were over 5,000 people attending in California. Subi fest had probably 15,000- they completely packed AAA speedway. That's probably as many as they get at nascar races. In comparison, I bet 1000 people would not show up for a Nissan/Nismo event.

Don't get me wrong I love my Z, and I think nismo is moving in the right direction, but they need to put their mouth where their money is so to say-it's guys like you and me that are out doing track day events, amateur competitions, time trial events, and car shows.

They are missing out on a lot of free press.

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gomer_110

fwiw here's a quick list of manufacturers that offer contingency programs for SCCA Solo.

Honda - $100 for class win
Subaru - $150 for class win
Mazda - $300 for class win
Mini - $250 for class win
Scion - $200 for class win
Toyota - $200 for class win

We're not talking big money here but every little bit counts when you're funding your own racing hobby.

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'17 Titan Bone Stock

dkmura

Not to go too far OT, but this is a bit misleading. All of these are for the ProSolo or National Solo Tour ONLY, not your local SCCA Solo events. In any event, Nissan has decided not to participate in either of those competitions, and so have plenty of other car manufacturers who have cars out there. As a Nissan racer, I wish there was more support for ALL grassroots competition programs, but it's not my only criteria for my participation.