I've made this response a few times to similar posts. The 350Z was produced during a time of financial over-leveraging, when everyone bought new cars they really couldn't afford, wrote checks they couldn't cash, using dodgy financing, often from cash back mortgages on new home purchases, helocs (2nd mortgages), etc. I do the same commute to work every day for the last 15 years, and about 5-8 years ago, just about every car on the road was a brand new bmw, corvette, 350Z, audi, etc. Nowadays I hardly ever see brand new cars, and not many of them are these luxury brands.
Essentially, people are not buying 370Zs because they are still paying for their 350Z, or whatever.
Now with the housing bubble (aka credit) gone bust, we are back to more normal times, and not many people can afford a $40k car all said and done. Not many at all. Many households that were 2 income are now 1 income. 40% of all mortgages owned by Americans are underwater, more like 90% of all mortgages on homes purchased between 2002-2007 during the housing bubble.
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