# The Future of Nissan



## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

I was thinking the other day that Nissan USA has done a lot to help its image in certain areas of the car world. We started off with bringing back the sr20de in sentras then moved on to the new SER's and from there the all new design Altima and Maxima. There was a void in the super car platform then came along the 350z and hey why not while thier at it throw in a couple of powerfull SUV's and Inifiniti's. All is gravy except one fact Nissan is trying to avoid for some reason and at the worst time to do so. They are neglecting to realize that not everybody wants a family car (4dr) or an expensive out of reach sports car. What im talking about is that 2dr pocket rocket that Nissan was known for. The market for these cars has gotten so big that I think strategically Nissan probably has actually lost a lot of money to honda/acura, mitsubishi, and mazda and yes even ford. I'm not saying chop the sentra in half and make it a 2dr but maybe consider designing purposely to make an affordable sporty pocket rocket. How about a redesigned GTIR mini godzella Pulsar, NX, or hell even a Sentra if all else fells. What do you guys think wouldnt you like to have some comparable competion to give to the Civic/RSX/Eclipse/Miata/Focus?


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## Token Moron (Mar 28, 2003)

nizmo559 said:


> * What do you guys think wouldnt you like to have some comparable competion to give to the Civic/RSX/Eclipse/Miata/Focus? *


for the civic, if its not an Si, we have the ga16de and sr20
for the RSX Type S we have the Spec V
eclipse we have the spec V
Miata we have the sr20/spec V(depending on which miata)
and for the Focus SVT we have the Spec V which both are almost identical in power 

i kinda think that the RSX falls into the maxima/altima(3.5L) class in which case the 265hp would kill the rsx


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## 1CLNB14 (Apr 30, 2002)

The 350Z is the low priced 2dr "pocket rocket" that you speak of.

30K is not considered high end.

The Spec V is the Civic/RSX/Eclipse/Miata/Focus competition, even with 4 doors....


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

The price tag for the 350z is high enough for the avg enthusiast yea its not considerably high but is high enough. I am talking about the pocket rocket low price/power/2dr vehicle. Lets exclude the 350z and spec v for the fact that not many can afford the $30000 price tag plus Ins., and many do not like the styling of a 4 door family car. Comparing the new sentra to the likes of the new eclipse/rsx/miata/focus is not right for the huge difference in styling. IM not into comparing apples and oranges in this discussion rather 2dr performance pocket rocket which nissan doesnt have in the line up currently


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## zeno (Sep 17, 2002)

I love the new Z but I think Nissan kind of blew it by keeping it NA. With the explosion of all the new turbo sport compacts (i.e. STI, Evo, Neon, GTI, etc.), Nissan has a real void in this area. The Spec-V is a great car but cannot compete w/ the above. However; if Nissan did design some sort of sport compact to compete it would directly affect the sales of the Z. 

I would love to see the GTi-R be released to compete w/ the above cars but I think Nissan would have to either beef up the Z or tone down the GTi-R.


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

Yea I feel you on that one.


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

maybe they nissan could put a couple stickers on the car to make it get more power


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## 1CLNB14 (Apr 30, 2002)

Greddy will fix the NA issue with the Z


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## OmegaManEX (Oct 4, 2002)

i wanna see :: 

factory turbo for the Z , and GTi-R in the States


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

Yea hopefully the Nismo dept will come thru on that at least.


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## zeno (Sep 17, 2002)

> Greddy will fix the NA issue with the Z


True but it is hella expensive and still only have a couple of prototypes barely pushing any boost (~6psi if I remember correctly). Most people don't have the funds, experience, or desire to spend that type of money and time in order to turbo their Z. You can take any car a sink enough money into and create exactly what you want, I think this discussion is more related to cars stock (or at least simpler mods.).


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

The issue to start was the abscence of the 2dr pocket rocket that nissan is missing in its lineup. Every other vehicle is superb in its own class. The 2dr is the only one really missing here in the US.


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## Psch91 (May 18, 2002)

I agree, Nissan should come up with a Factory Turbo car to compete in that market. But as was mentioned, then the Z sales would be slighly affected, or even more than a little. People still love Z's, and maybe they will and probably would keep buying it, since they might not like the idea of a turbo. But other people would really be interested in a turbo car, so they would have sales on the turbo car, and others buy the Z. and Nizmo, whats up with referring to a cheaper sporty car as a "pocket rocket"?


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

Just a term i picked up from in Sport Compact Car Magazine if your a casual reader like I am they refer to a lot of the compact cars as pocket rockets cuz they car cheap and fast.


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

oh and small duh lol forgot that part.


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## cronkbogey (May 25, 2003)

I've heard of cheaper sport cars as "pocket rockets" in articles. I don't think it's meant in an insulting manner. I agree with Nizmo559 concerning this issue. Once major automakers make a name for themselves with inexpensive little cars for younger folks they often try to maximize profit by going for the middle class. Take Ford's original Thunderbird for example. Once MacNamara got his hands on it (or anything else, including the Falcon), it became bigger, more expensive, and aimed at a wider audience. This strategy works for awhile and makes more money, but you shouldn't count out what made you big. Else, you'll eventually lose. $30,000 is what a new car usually goes for now, but Nissan built it's reputation here on reliable cars selling below the average price of a "good" domestic car. It's a good idea to keep the young\broke kid market. They grow up and make the big bucks before you know it. And they'll be brand loyal.


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

Couldnt have said it better. Cronk was on point with that young/broke kid market kinda where i dwell at this time but im coming up would have been nice to get a newer 2dr sports car instead of getting an older NX but im happy with it.


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## kbrassfi (Aug 1, 2002)

yeah maybe something along the lines of the 200sx, like a newer model of it, something in the Civic price/power range, something that is in our broke a$$ college student level of finances


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

Yep exactly, I was looking at the new spec v sentras and you know what that car might not look have bad as a 2dr it would be a 200sx might be pretty kew.


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

Nissan just give us a tuneable 2dr vehicle. How about throwing one of the new 2.5 engines or even a sr20ve or sr16ve that might be fun.


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## blueboost (Jul 25, 2002)

im still going to say they hung themselves with the silvia. I mean... thats what its for. its not a sentra and its not a 350Z its a cheap, fast tunable 2Dr sport compact. thats EXACTLY what your all talking about needing. I agree it would though effect sales of other vehicles BUT thats a given when any consumer choses one vehicle over another. Hell, at least your giving them more reasons to stay nissan... i.e... "hey, I was going to get the mazda6, then I decided on the 350Z but the options pkg I like is way too expensive. I finally settled on the silvia because its priced right and still offers the performance I need". so you see its not always gonna take away from the other cars being marketed, it may actually be beneficial. and whens the last time you saw say... Ferrari say something like "well, we already have a sports car so we needn't build another" no fuck that, Nissan made a big mistake. every 20-something year old import enthusiast IN the states would be rocking S15's right now if they had the choice. you wanna know why everyone and there mother is rocking a civic? because Nissan hasn't picked up their balls :balls: and grabbed a market thats begging for a leader in the key areas Nissan used to be very good at. I drove by my nissan lot today and all that was visible in plain site was SUV's and trucks. Not even 1 350Z in site


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## andre (Apr 30, 2002)

blueboost said:


> *I drove by my nissan lot today and all that was visible in plain site was SUV's and trucks. Not even 1 350Z in site    *


I see that at the dealership near me too...they put the trucks/SUVs on the front line, a couple of Altimas further in the parking lot, and the Murano, Maxima, SE-R and 350Z are inside the showroom only. From the street level you see nothing but trucks, so I doubt they grab a lot of attention. However, I dont think Nissan will want to bring out any car that's as sporty as the S15 would be right now, because it would be detrimental to Z sales....why? They would be fast, and cheap...just like you said, so that means less profit margin for corporate. What they should do though, is make the SE-R a 2 door model again. That way, it doesn't take much from the Z or G35 for that matter, and it is sporty enough for a young person to feel good in.


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## De La Rocha (Apr 4, 2003)

Bring back the 240! 

-Matt


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

shit for real give us a 240 with weak engine who cares anything is better than a honda


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## nacho_nissan (Jun 12, 2003)

What nissan needs is a new car that is kind of like a Spyder or a celica.It has very good engines but it needs a powerful 4 cyl./2 door car.


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## Pacman (Feb 25, 2003)

My friend just bought a new Celica, I was telling her about the Spec V but she didn't want a 4-dr. and the 240's were to rare (at least where I live, there hard to find for sale) and didn't come with a warranty. So we have lost another for Nissan's absent's.


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## dschrier (May 6, 2002)

Nissan definately needs a 2 door sports car similar to the celica. I would love a 350z but I will never aford one in the field I'm in. I would love an s15 if they were sold here and would buy one no matter what. The 240sx was a good car but they are so rare that I can't find one to buy, and the only ones I can find are too old to be worth buying. Honda is doing a great job with the civic because they have so many different trim levels and toyota has many different models to choose from. Ford has a cheap focus zx3 which offers decent performance for the price you pay. I love Nissan but they definately need to fill in their price gap with a car around $10,000 or a sporty car in the $16,000-$20,000 range that isn't the spec-v. Maybe once the 350z gets settled in this would happen, similar to what is going to happen with the maxima now that the altima 3.5se is available.


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## anthony jackson (Jul 16, 2002)

> (_(_)===D ~~~ Hondas


:balls: LMAO!


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## nizmo559 (Mar 4, 2003)

Hey I just saw a pic of the spider 350z on a nissan website sorry diddnt get the link.


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## mrfox (Mar 11, 2003)

Well we bought our S13 because it is affordable, rear drive, and fun. 

We bought our B14 because it is compact, well built, and reliable.

Nothing on the current nissan new car line up satisfies these criterias anymore.


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