just for curiosity, 100,000 Zs has been sold for the first 3 years. Is that a good among selling NO.? i mean just in sport car catogary. what about its competitors like S2000s. RX8s, etc?

 

Whatever it was...I really wish it wasn't the "best selling".

See one everyday on every corner driven by everyone!

 

 

hahahahahaha. you kid right? im sure at least the mustang sells many times more cars than the z. thats without even bringing the corvette into this.

domestics sell > than anything in the us

 

If I remember correctly, Ford expected to sell over 200,000 Rustangs in the first year. I see a whole lot more S2000s than Zs. Not very many RX-8s though. When they first came out, a local dealer had a lot full of them and they sat there for a long time. Sales are probably less than the Z.

 

I think it was temporarily the best selling 2 seat sports car, but that was before the C6 was released. It had taken the title from the Vette, and I think the Vette has regained it (could be mistaken about C6 Vette sales, but I know the first part about outselling C5s )

 

Corvette annual sales are approximately 32,489. Reference: http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/vehi...30feat_ls.html

 

Well, from the link, the Z sells 27,278. I think those numbers for the Vette being annual means they are at least partially C5s, though. With the discounts on old models vs the new C6 demand, not sure how that affects the equation.

 

The RX-8 isnt selling very well at all. There are quite a few dealers offering amounts up to $8000 of MSRP. It tempted me for a second, but I'm sticking with the Z. Placing my order (finally) in 2 weeks.

 

I hope the Z is not the best selling sports car. The less out there, the better.

As for RX-8. I tried to convince a friend not to get one to no avail. Now he regrets the little torque the car has.

 

2005 sales

350Z - 27,278
G35 - 25,949 (coupe)
RX-8 - 23,690
Mustang - 160,975 (1st model year)
Corvette - 32,489
GTO - 11,590

 

We;re sorry to spoil your delusions of exclusivity!

 

I tried searching for the 2003 350z's sold, but couldnt find the number...I read in the first 4 months it sold over 10,000, but that mustang 2005 number of over 160,000 sold, thats crazzzzy. I see alot of them, alot more then Z's for sure, I probably see 1-3 Z's, S2K's, and RX8's a day, mustang I see at least 10, same with corvettes, they are everywhere....My nissan here has about 15 Z's sitting in the front of the dealer, and it seems they constantly have at least 15 new ones since i bought my car there....

 

I remember Best Motoring stating that the Z was the best selling sports car world wide when they did their special on the Z. I know the Mazda Miata is the best selling "sports car" of all time though.

 

Nissan sold 36,728 Z's in 2003

2003 - 36,728
2004 - 30,690
2005 - 27,278

Good news is that Jan 06 is up from Jan 05. So, hopefully the numbers will go up slightly.

 

Does anyone else feel this reflects upon the way Nissan marketed the car? The initial buzz about the car was minimal and then eventually tapered off into some silly commercial with some redneck in the background singing about driving the car and blowing the horn. If I had a nickel for every "Zoom-zoom-zoom" or that "Days go by" commercial used to push the 2002/3 Mitsu Eclipses I'd probably have 5 or 6 tricked out 350's by now. IMHO Nissan really dropped the ball in pushing this car to the masses, unless that was their intent all along - just to appeal to a "specialty" market of consumers. Just my .02 by the way...

 

Btw, congrats on your upcoming order placement! Don't forget to demand invoice price as Nissan dealers pocket all 2% of their holdback on special orders. That's what I had to mention after the dealer first told me (quite nonchalantly) that he can "let the car go" for $1k below MSRP. For the GTc, that comes to a whopping 9.8% above invoice! Needless to say, he immediately dropped it down to invoice, plus agreed not to charge me for labor on Nismo add-ons

 

Thanks for the info! I didnt know about this holdback. So, now I wont feel guilty demanding invoice.

 

from everything ive read, the 350z was a huge success for nissan. a sports car is not their bread and butter for operations. the 350z is their iconic car which helps them push other lines (maxima, altima, sentra, titan) by invoking brand prestige and loyalty.

it was likely never their intent to compete with the numbers of mustangs produced.

my .02

 

You're welcome! Yup, no need to pay a penny above invoice on special orders. Apart from Mitsubishi and some European makes, pretty much every manufacturer offers a 1-3% holdback to their dealers off the invoice on every car they order, not just special orders. The thing is, if the car is still sitting on the lot after a month, they start to lose a portion of the holdback, until 90 days (IIRC) when the holdback goes to 0%. It is a way for carmakers to incent their dealers to sell every car they order ASAP. So ofcourse with pre-sold orders, all 2% (in Nissan's case) goes straight in their pockets as the car is whisked away the moment in lands in their lot.

Edmunds has the whole scoop on dealer holdbacks and has list for % on all makes. That's where I first read about it. Edmunds suggests using that only as a last resort in negotiations, so be tactful about it. Dealers consider holdback to be sacred money and don't like talking about it. My salesman turned out to be their Sales Manager himself, so he was forthcoming.

I recruited my wife to interject with "But honey, what about the holdback?" if the dealer gave a song and dance about not making enough money on the sale. He did, so she did. That mellowed him down real fast, to say the least!

P.S: JunJTan, sorry for stealing your thread, man.