Nissan confirms that they are going to let the 370Z languish on the vine

"LJ909" (lj909)
01/30/2018 at 15:43 • Filed to: None

Image: Motor Trend

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is reporting that Nissan isn’t going to cancel or redesign the Z anytime soon. Nissan’s head of product planning Philippe Klein spoke to Automotive News and when asked about a next gen Z, stated “We’re working on it and it’s very present, but I have no indication to give you.” So a no then?

According to him, as well all know, the changing market shift to boringness and crossovers has made the case for sports cars that much harder to make. He also promised ““The passion is there,the question is, how can we refresh it, and what will be the breakthrough for the long term?” So expect the Z to be left in the sports car dust for the foreseeable future.

DISCUSSION (20)

AestheticsInMotion > LJ909
01/30/2018 at 15:59

Better this than no Z. I can’t think of any reason to buy a new 370z when it’s so overpriced for what it is, but they’re good values secondhand. Large aftermarket, reliable, solid platform, fairly easy to work on and good driving dynamics.

BeaterGT > LJ909
01/30/2018 at 16:00

Maybe this is a good thing? As far as we know, the “next” Z could come with a CVT and turbo 4. I drive my coworker’s Nismo 370Z and the thing is a blast.

Nothing > LJ909
01/30/2018 at 16:07

I just did a quick local search. Aside from the overpriced “Sport Touring”, the rest were sitting right around $30k or so, for an advertised price. I’d be willing to bet you can get some knocked off that, too. Doesn’t seem like a terrible option for the price, I guess.

LJ909 > AestheticsInMotion
01/30/2018 at 16:09

This is true, and especially true used. They are a good buy. But what good is it if they arent going to try and make it competitive? It could go away if they arent even going to bother. At this point all competitors are better for the money and outperform it.

LJ909 > BeaterGT
01/30/2018 at 16:10

They are good cars. And its true that if they are thinking f straying too far from the formula leave well enough alone. A next gen could be some hybrid ev with a CVT and is a Z in name only.

LJ909 > Nothing
01/30/2018 at 16:11

Its a big maybe though with getting some off. My experience in dealing with Nissan dealers with Z’s are they treat them more special than they are. As if they are equivalent to a GT-R.

AestheticsInMotion > LJ909
01/30/2018 at 16:15

Honda, Toyota, all the American brands and even the Koreans can do it. But... Honestly I don’t think Nissan has the right mindset/management/whatever to have any kind of success with enthusiast cars at the moment. They’re lucky in that they just so happen to have the GT-R which is arguably the greatest halo car to ever have been made, so even being as old as it is, it’s still desirable and somewhat relevant. The Z.... It has unique styling. It’s not a turbo-4. It’s available with a manual. There isn’t much in that admittedly small niche to compete with. But yeah I totally agree, it’s sad to see the Z neglected.

CobraJoe > AestheticsInMotion
01/30/2018 at 16:15

I’m not so sure they’re that overpriced anymore. They start at $30k, which is slightly higher than the entry level pony cars, but with more power and less weight than the Ecoboost Mustang.

It might be a tough call between a Z and the V6 camaro, but it’s the only dead on competitor the Z has right now.

LJ909 > AestheticsInMotion
01/30/2018 at 16:19

Its not even just the Z its Nissan/Infiniti as a whole and I’ve talked about this before. The Z is slowly going into obscurity because of how old it is. Everyone that wanted one has one and the used market is the better way to go with how much they are new. They only sold 4614 in all of 2017. Its dying.

AestheticsInMotion > CobraJoe
01/30/2018 at 16:22

True, but as you go up in trim levels and model, the price climbs much higher than comparable muscle cars with much less added to the car. I freaking love the 370z, especially the styling, but for the price of a nismo.... Oh man. That’s rough. Maybe part of the problem is that the current muscle cars are just really cheap compared to the rest of somewhat-competetitors..?

I’ve also noticed Nissan dealers reaaaaally don’t like to give you much in the way of discounts on the Z. No clue about mustangs, but judging by experience with the ST twins I’m guessing it couldn’t be too hard to score a good deal.

CobraJoe > AestheticsInMotion
01/30/2018 at 16:59

Yeah, the upper trim levels add a lot of cost without a lot of obvious upgrades.

And the V8 pony cars are a hell of a deal for the performance you get. I still wish they sold a “stripped” version of the V8 cars. I don’t care about leather seats or satnav or big flashy wheels. If they could knock $5k off the price of the base level GT, that’d be an incomparable performance bargain.

Saracen > CobraJoe
01/30/2018 at 17:05

$36k for a 2018 Mustang GT is already a HUGE performance steal.

And it doesn’t come with leather seats or satnav or any of that.

CobraJoe > Saracen
01/30/2018 at 17:14

I’m only really complaining because it keeps getting more expensive. Besides, I don’t need the dual power seats or the dual illuminated visor vanity mirrors. (And the GT does have bigger wheels than the base ecoboost) Probably isn’t a $5k difference, but I can dream.

Kanaric > LJ909
01/30/2018 at 19:09

Nissan is firmly on the path to becoming Mitsubishi.

It’s crazy that the japanese let Ford and VW take all their sales from them. They could have been produces competent GT/Sports cars for years and hot hatches all this time but didn’t and let those two companies take over the enthusiast market for what they were good at making. Even vehicles like the STI are just vastly inferior to the German and American counterparts.

If it wasn’t for the FRS and the upcoming Supra I woud write japan off completely. They are leagues behind how they were in the 90s, it’s like they swapped places with the US between that era and now.

Kanaric > AestheticsInMotion
01/30/2018 at 19:13

Once the Koreans come out with their new Coupe I have a feeling the 370Z is going to look like a hunk of garbage and Nissan is going to regret not replacing it sooner.

If Kia or Hyundai produce a coupe with that twin turbo v6 engine and a manual transmission it’s basically the second coming of the 90s 300ZX.

Then Toyota is coming with the Supra soon.

Nissan is screwed I think if there is a Supra trim in that is competative with the 370Z in price.

LJ909 > Kanaric
01/30/2018 at 19:17

This is literally what happened. Honda, Acura, Nissan, Toyota, all shadows of their former selves at the expense of profits and boring-ness. Toyota has ridden the reliability train and doesn’t want to get off. Every now and then some stuff gives us glimmers of hope, like the 86, new Camry XSE and coming Supra. Honda/Acura are a joke outside of the Si/Type R. The new Accord Sport shows some hope but even the NSX leaves a lot to be desired.

I dont have hope for them until they show me otherwise. The Supra will be priced out of what most of us can afford anyway and wont make it to a second gen I think.

Kanaric > LJ909
01/30/2018 at 19:24

Ya I forgot about the new civic, I don’t know about the SI and how it compares to a Focus ST or GTI. I think there is hope in Toyota, Honda, and Subaru. However they all have catching up to do. Subaru has needed a new STI engine for a while. I think for those three companies we are on the brink of good stuff again from, however they let it just malaise for so many years.

Mazda I don’t think has the funding to be really competative outside of Miata anymore and are going the full on eco route.

I remember a few years ago here I made a post about how the Japanese companies were reaching full on malaise mode. This was before the FRS and all that were really out and people were in denial. It’s just so obvious now that everyone just knows lol.

One thing that they have to worry about as well is now the big Korean projects are stating to come out too.

LJ909 > Kanaric
01/30/2018 at 19:52

The Civic variants are in a weird place as far as competing. On one hand, for something cheap and sporty, you have the Civic Hatch Sport. But its not a full on hot hatch and it only has 180 horses. Its for someone that thought a Civic sedan is boring but cant spring for the Si. Then you have the Si coupe and sedan only. No hatch, Regulating it to a weird place where it doesn’t really compete with the GTi,FoST etc just off of the fact that Honda weirdly didn’t offer the Si on the hatch this gen. And while fund to drive, its way down on power compared to them anyway. The only way to compete with them is with the pricey Type R, but then that runs with the STi’s, FoRS and Golf R’s.

As far as Toyota, I don’t have hope for them because like I mentioned, they have been on their reliability kick. Even Lexus is boring for the most part. The 86 might be going away soon, and I dont think its getting a second gen, the Supra might be the only sporty thing from them for the next few years.

The WRX/STi has needed a new engine but a new gen is coming soon. i think its safe to say we can always count on Subaru for performance with the Impreza variants.

You’re right about Mazda. they aren’t big enough to do performance. Its why Mazdaspeed pretty much went away. they seem to be content with the Miata and I don’t blame them.

My hope lies in the Koreans. Hyundai/Kia seems to be taking the performance game seriously. From the lukewarm Elantra GT/Forte SX, the Stinger, Genesis G80 Sport and the coming G70, they are embarrassing the Japanese and putting the Germans on notice.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > LJ909
01/30/2018 at 20:06

last autoshow I went to there were about 5 or 6 boomers standing around the z, meanwhile there was around 20, 16-35 year olds around the Civic R and Focus RS

LJ909 > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
01/30/2018 at 20:11

Yea while the Z does have a tuner following, the young guys are the second and 3rd and 4th owners buying em used and tuning them. Boomers are a lot of the people that buy them new. Its a Japanese Corvette in that regard.