Agree... although gas prices have settled back down again, and the "Great Recession" is pretty much behind us too -- other than some residual fallout of slow job growth since then.
Car dealers were doing a booming business for much of 2016, and only in the last few months has there been an indication that it's slowing a bit (which is only to be expected, once the pent-up surge of buyers, post recession, have made their purchases).
Right now, I think Millennial indifference is putting the most hurt on the sports car segment. Plus, buying habits and trends change with time. Right now, a lot of people who would have been drawn to a sports car in the past are looking at luxury sedans or SUVs or even Jeeps instead. I know several people in their early 30's who I would have pegged as a definite candidate for a nice sports car who bought a Lincoln MKZ instead. Where I work, in downtown Bethesda - it's one of the wealthiest suburbs in America. You see nothing but high end cars on the roads out here. And yet? The 2 seater sports car is fairly uncommon. More people are attracted to a high performance version of an SUV so they can have something fast that they can still take the dog to the vet in, or give several co-workers a ride to and from lunch during the day.
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Originally Posted by wanker
FWIW, the potential death of the Z is isn't just a Nissan thing. The 2 seated sports car is dying. Even Porsche is struggling. It's a combination of the Great Recession, gas prices and Millennial indifference.
IMHO, the only reason Nissan doesn't just kill the Z, is in deference to the Z heritage. Nissan has always been about light trucks (in Asian) and Sentras. The last time the Z made any money for Nissan was in the 70s.
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