Not true, could do a shared platform with Renault reviving both the Silvia and Alpine names, they've been talking about starting the Alpine brand up again for about a decade now, although Alpines were all RR apparently, but there was talks of using the GTR for an Alpine, and the Clio was MR...

Pitching additional sales in the U.S. through badging it as a Nissan would probably help Renault justify the costs.

Agreed though, their game is econo-boxes, that's THE game if you want to thrive as an auto manufacturer these days with even Ferrari and Lamborghini talking about SUV's since it was such a boon for Porsche. Mass market big sales numbers line executive pockets and give shareholders dividends, not raving magazine reviews that move ~20k sports cars at thin profit margins.

Looks like it's time for the Japanese to bring back that classic Japanese muscle. I am, of course, talking about the first generation Celica fastbackhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Celica_01.jpg

No drugs...I drove a Juke NISMO RS literally back to back with an ND MX-5 Club Sport and it is my honest impression. The Juke NISMO RS weighs less than 200lbs more than FR-S and has a really tight and quick responsive chassis and suspension that corners just about as flatly. The ND is a freaking sailboat in comparison pitching forward and back and yawing side to side...do not like.

The new g37 (now G60) is reportedly going to start around $40K with the base turbo 4, which is inline with the 4-series and C-Class coupe. The 300hp TT V6 will likely come in around $45K, with the 400 hp ECU tune being even more expensive. The 370z successor would need to start at or under $30K with either a 3.7 V6 or Turbo 4. I don't know about the VQ56. A big V8 would be cool but hit Nissan's EPA and CAFE numbers. :(

I didn't really expect them to make it unless they axed the Z or the GTR. Having 3 sports cars in your lineup would be tough I'd assume.

Maybe if they didn't waste their money on these two:

http://zombdrive.com/images/2014-nis...abriolet-3.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...be_Z12_001.JPG

Sadly, I think those two flops really irked some people in the board room and Ghosen had to start axing special projects.

My point was about excess capacity, not about a new car/shared platform.

Subaru had no issue making the 86 because they had the spare assembly line to do so. I am not sure Nissan has the capability, and a Japanese sports car made in France will be surely a hot seller outside of Europe...

-alex

Yeah because the average buyer is totally up on where specific models are built. Guess that Italian powered Japanese sports car coming out soon will be a barometer.

The whole point of my post is that Renault might have some capacity to manufacture it and now that i think about it could capitalize better on their F1 involvement.

What? Miata is a 2300lb 2 seater convertible. Juke is an ugly pig with engine position in front of the front axle. You don't mean to tell me a RWD with engine positioned on the nose drive better than a front mid engine car.

Have Mazda build the fricking car for them like they do it for Toyota and Fiat.

I've owned, driven and loved Nissans for over 20 years. I still own two Skylines and they are still as awesome to me as they ever were. I have Nissan cred.

That being said, Nissan now, can lick my balls. I don't see me walking into a Nissan dealer for any new cars unless they correct the disparity in their leasing structure that will allow me to pick up a Leaf on lease without paying damned near full purchase price WTF?

Their uber car, the GT-R is certainly an amazing collection of stats and for what it is, it is a bullseye. It's not what I want, fine. The Z is not a bad sports car and I like the 370 styling much better than the 350 and while the VQ engine doesn't excite me neither does the FA so it's not a dealbreaker.

To ignore the entry level lightweight RWD car market is a mistake I think. We have discussed it constantly in the Nissan owner community and the number of Nissan faithful who park their Nissan of choice next to a BRZ or a Miata is notable.

Nissan has decided they don't want our business and we went elsewhere. I'll tell you this, when I pull into the Nissan parts counter parking lot, their employees come out to scope out my Scooby.

Hence my comment to begin with.

Everyone sees this as "Nissan doesn't want to build entry-level sports car"

I see it as "if it made sense for Nissan to build and sustain their business plan, they would've done so years ago."

Ever since Renault took over Nissan, their primary goal is to ensure profitability in all that they do. The late 90s basically sealed the fate of Nissan for the next 2-3 decades. Even their ill-fated Le Mans program reflected a risk-adverse corporate culture.

-alex

Nissan: "We're too much of a bunch of pussies to build a car for enthusiasts despite them clamoring for a return of the legendary Silvia that our competitors in Subaru/Toyota have directly challenged."

Nissan made the right choices to pull the company back to profitability. Unfortunately, they forgot how to do some things. Until they realize that their failure to address certain market segments is THEIR failure, not ours, they will be absent from the conversation on that topic and make it harder to come back into it.