http://www.leftlanenews.com/nissan-3...ports-car.html

 

Wow, that's interesting. Why would Nissan want to have two cars in their line up that could potentially compete with each other? If they up the price and the performance on the new 370Z it most certainly would push it closer into the GTR range. Just seems like a recipe for disaster to me, especially now since they have the Altima coupe. The sports car/Sports coupe market is not a huge market and with gas prices continuing to go up this might cause the potential market to shrink even more. More competition and less demand could spell disaster

 

what?

 

sounds like B.S to me

 

 

stupid move?

 

Front wheel drive Z? I don't think so.

 

says the new model will do battle with the likes of the Mazda MX-5, Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice

 

It sounds like the Z would still stay rear-wheel drive but they would change the overall platform and jack up the price. I can't believe this would be a smart move for Nissan/Infiniti.

If so they would have the following lineup?

Nissan Altima Coupe (front-wheel drive) $22-25k
Nissan (new front wheel drive car) $25-30k
Infiniti G37 $35-45k
Nissan 370Z (rear-wheel drive, revised platform) $45-55k
Nissan GTR $70-80k

That's a lot of competition just from within.

 

Good points, Ben (it is Ben right?!-lol)

recipe for disaster... but only if they keep the G37 where its at price-wise.

If they move the G more upscale than it currently is, (which is bound to happen as the car gets closer and closer to BMW), then the 37 will need to bump up a high performance model that would carry costomers from a V6 330 to a V6TT or V8. as the premium G moves up -it will leave a gaping hole in the 34-45k line-up. BMW saw the same problem with moving the 3 series/M3 more and more uphill only to realize they needed to fill the hole they had left behind. while they did aquire new costomers they left behind the enthusiats that sculpted its success. hence the new 1 series.

I believe the new Z will be in the G37 range pricewise and performance but thats only because the G is moving up as well. thats my opinion on it. With the infiniti brand headed for europe you better believe the G will get a major boost in performance and the Z not too far behind.

 

Fine with me, from the pictures I don't want one anyway.

 

lol, yep it's Ben. Too many Bens on here now.

You're right. I can see Nissan moving the G and Z up the chain. I just hope that they do a better job than BMW has done. Don't get me wrong, I love the new 1 series BMW but the fact that it is priced around $31-40k(the 135 convertible being the most expensive) is kind of dumb when you can get into a 335i for around $40k. The 1 series should be a $25-31k car. I don't understand the reasoning with the pricing.

 

Nissan will make a big mistake if they chose to enter the FWD "sporty" car market.

 

Your absolutely right in that the car doesn't seem priced correctly. It looks like a 25-35k car to me as well . however, BMW is notorious for sucking with pricing. look at the new 60k M3 or the 70k+ x6 SAV... they suck! Remember when the M3's used to be in the G37 price range? what gives ! they've alomost doubled in price in the last 2 generations.

and it only gets worse! http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/05/06/bm...g-june-1-2008/


The original Z's did the same deal i think. they started off as the best affordable sports car around and eventually went up in price to a point that seems to take away from the cars original concept. for example: the 300ZX started its first year at 30k and in its final year stickered at 50 with all the options!! a 20k price increase in 7 years! compare that to the generation before at 24k!!!

 

BS, I'd put my money on the possibility of it being AWD. I think the japanese translators got it wrong or something and misunderstood what was meant. That would be closer to the "whole new platform" and could add the performance it needs and justify a price increase.

 

FWD?! BOO!