Quote:
Originally Posted by reni
If you've been paying attention to the news at all, Nissan is in a world of hurt right now financially so I would not be surprised if they put on hold or cancel non-essential projects like low-volume sports cars...
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The converse to what you said is that Nissan won’t change in light of their situation. They may stay on path not knowing what else to do. The next Z could be seen as a necessary risk that is needed to refresh the model and the brand. They could see what Toyota and Honda have done with the 86, Type R and Supra and realize they are behind the ball. The Z and GTR are old. New design language usually trickles down from sports cars and flagships, so a new Z might be necessary.
Toyota has played it safe with the 86 and Supra by collaborating with Subaru and BMW, respectively, to keep costs down. Honda has modified their 2.0T in the Civic Type R to be used in the Accord and built that sports car on a platform that sells in high volumes, so their costs aren’t too high. Nissan will likely do the same with their Z by using an existing engine, but their costs will likely still be higher because the Z isn’t a collaboration, nor is its body shared across platforms like the Civics.
The fact that they are testing a new car with an old Z shell is evidence enough that a new sports car is likely coming.