Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyy
Wasn't this rumored about the 2011/2012? I know they had the tsunami... but R&D should have been going on before the disaster.
|
I'm sure they've been noodling around with prototype mods but there's a huge difference in expense between developing a protoype and actually ordering the parts and finalizing the tooling and production lines. I suspect that THAT is hold up on a re-design. They have to get the most out of the production investment in the current model tooling that they can and I suspect that they aren't there yet, especially given the numbers that they lost in the tsunami. I'll bet that disaster set them back by at least a year on new model implementation, maybe more that that for a low-volume seller, low priority car like the Z. I'm sure the tsunami saddled Nissan with some significant financial challenges. When they start prioritizing their recovery, I can't imagine that the Z comes anywhere
near the top of that list.
The oil cooler that's attached to the filter housing on the 2012? That's gotta be super cheap and a super-simple production line change for them.