Can someone explain Nissan's mentality to me.

KillerBee370

This.

It's a 2 seater sports car.

Mt Tam I am

Spending is down. Impractical.

They just don't know what they are missing.

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UNKNOWN_370

1. Economics- pricing, insurance and most states negotiations are not good with exceptions to the east coast (due to higher cost of living per capita). Gas pricing vs. Mpg's

2. Niché import cars- always sell low volume compared to let's say a corvette.

3. Low practicality... 2 seats. A car for singles and couples with no kids.

4. Genesis coupe is very practical and gives people who want a sports car but doesn't want a muscle car an affordable option. When the 350z was out. The only other affordable option was the mustang.

Nissan built an awesome car in the Z, if you can understand what kind of car this is? Many will try to compare this car to cars that couldn't begin to match this level of performance. Most people discount extreme high performance driveability for quarter mile times.
But what can you expect from a country who's idea of a functional great performing vehicle is a Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and Ford expedition. (I'm a proud american but a spade is a spade)
To appreciate this car for what it is, you must be able to understand all the philosophy of the engineers and designers. Understand the history and what this car means, not only as a mode of transportation or a cool ride. But as a work of art. The Z is an incredible machine.

All sports cars are incredible machines. Whether you choose a Z, mustang, corvette or whatever??? My advice, buy from your heart and soul. A sports car should be an extension of your soul. It should remind you of what excites you about life. It should be a representation of what makes you a spiritually free man or woman.
You can buy a sports car to be the kool guy on the block. And that's kool I guess??? I won't knock that... at least right now. Lol But if you do? You will be missing out on so much a sports car has to offer.

hdskull

There's no Tokyo drift with a 370z..

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m4a1mustang

Like everyone else has said, it's the economy. Even look at Mustang sales figures... they are way down compared to years past. It's very hard to justify the purchase of an impractical car that drinks premium gasoline when the national unemployment rate is as high as it is.

When the 370Z was approved by NISSAN it was done so under the assumption that they would sell 30,000 units in the first year, similar to 350Z sales. In 2009 they only sold 10,000, and it's looking like it will take them three full model years to reach that 30,000 figure. It's tough to make a $30k 2-seat sports car work in this economy.

If this were 2005 or 2006 they'd probably be selling three times as many.

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Lemers

Another thing is that the 350 was the first new Z in the states for a few years. It was announced with a lot of fanfare and it got attention and free marketing. Just like the camaro is doing now it sold a lot in the first two years of production because of people who grew up loving the car could now get a new one.

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GZ3

idk something about the 350Z that made it an instant hit! I mean that car took off in sales...also the production numbers betweeen the 2 is allot aless....the 370 is barely being pumped out...i think nissan has something huge in the brewing

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UNKNOWN_370

I see the Z going out of production in 2014. Then the Z coming back on its 50th birthday in 2019 as a 2020 model.

GZ3

as a 4.0 liter v8

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12' 370Z 7AT HANDED DOWN
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whoady4shoady

400Z anyone?

KillerBee370

Maybe their thinking it's the best selling and most popular sport car in history

GZ3

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Econ

people don't have money now + they can get a used 350 (which looks similiar if not identical to most folk) for less than half the price of the 370's

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kenchan

1) economy tanked..

2) i got mine at invoice... so not sure wat you mean.

3) you should get a 4 door mustang.

SeattleLion

Most of the reasons have already been given:
1. Poor economy
2. Gas prices, etc.

There is one other factor to consider: demand for sports cars is fairly inelastic. The 350 arrived as the new kid. It was really the first true sports car under $40k in years. This opened up a new market. Now young adults (20-35) could afford the payments for the 350. So, more sales...for a while.

It's interesting to note that other car makers did not hop onto this band wagon. The Z still stands pretty much alone in the affordable sports car category. Everyone in the industry, including Nissan, realizes that two-seat sports cars are niche products. The market for these cars isn't going to grow dramatically. The 350 opened up a new demographic segment. That segment began getting saturated by 2008. When the recession hit, one of the most impacted segments was the 20-35 year-old males; exactly the target market for the Z. So it isn't a big surprise that the market slowed.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse is an interesting parallel. I am not saying it is a sports car like the Z, so no flames. But in the 1990's it was an affordable sporty looking car that sold well to young males. However, by 1998 sales had dropped dramatically. Mitsubishi figured it was saturation of their demographic. In 2000 they introduced a new Eclipse. It was wider, had more comfortable seats, lots of ammenities. They were trying to appeal to the older (richer) crowd in order to expand the market.

I am very happy that Nissan is staying true to the Z's tradition of being a hard core sports car. If you look at it in the light of the Eclipse transformation, you can see that the 370 is a more refined version of the 350. I suspect Nissan wanted to broaden the appeal to a larger demographic.

It certainly worked for me. I looked at a 350 when it first came out. It just didn't work for me. I ended up with a Pathfinder. When I sat in the 370 it was a totally different experience, so I bought it. I am older (a lot) than 35 and things like leather seats, sat nav, good comfort are important to me. I am in the Porsche demographic, but the 370 won me over.

Why then are sales poor? I suspect it is that my demographic can afford Porsches and more often than not, that is the choice. Also, since the Z isn't a good choice for your one and only vehicle (my wife has a truck), the recession forced a lot of potential buyers to choose larger, more practical cars.

I don't think that the Z will disappear again. Modern car plants can produce multiple models on the same line. Once the cost of dies, tooling, etc are invested, it isn't particularly difficult to support a low volume model.

From my perspective I like that there are very few 370's out there. Makes my Z exotic. That's cool.