Nissan Exec Hints At Reasonably priced Electrical Sports activities Automobile – May It Be A Trendy 240SX/Silvia?
A 3rd mannequin under Z and GT-R, an electrical rival to Toyota’s GR86 might re-engage youthful patrons, however is there a enterprise case?
October 28, 2023 at 13:10
The Hyper Pressure, a 1,341 hp (1,360 PS) idea pointing to the GT-R’s future as a battery-powered supercar, was the star of Nissan’s Tokyo present lineup this week, however Nissan execs are apparently simply as enthusiastic in regards to the potentialities of a driver’s EV on the different finish of the facility and affordability scale.
Nissan product boss Ivan Espinosa advised reporters that an entry-level enjoyable automotive designed to take a seat under the Z and GT-R could possibly be simply what the corporate must re-engage with youthful patrons, a lot of whom don’t have the identical curiosity in vehicles and driving that earlier generations did.
Extra: The Honda Prelude Is Coming again As A Hybrid Sports activities Coupe
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Illustrations Carscoops / John Halas
“I believe automotive producers – generally – have forgotten in regards to the ardour for vehicles,” Espinosa advised High Gear. “It relies on the nation, however you’ll be able to see that younger clients are much less and fewer interested in vehicles.”
Espinosa famous that for a few years Nissan supplied fanatics a three-tier lineup, however that it at the moment lacks any type of car designed to attraction to patrons of their twenties. One choice could be for Nissan to leap into the recent hatch market and compete head-on with the likes of the Toyota GR Corolla and Honda Civic Sort R, however Espinosa appeared to have a special plan that doesn’t embrace sizzling hatches or combustion energy.
“I’m unsure a couple of sizzling hatch, however possibly a smaller electrical sports activities automotive,” he advised TG. “One thing smaller, a bit extra reasonably priced. Undoubtedly.”
Extra: Nissan Supplier Desires Extra For 2024 NISMO Z Than A GT-R At $158,495
The Nissan IDx Freeflow and IDx Nismo ideas from 2013
Upon studying these phrases we instantly started to think about a modern-day 180/200/240SX/ Silvia, an electrical equal to the Toyota GR86, or possibly a battery-powered successor to the good and boxy Sentra SE-R of the early Nineties, one thing alongside the traces of the implausible IDx Freeflow and IDx Nismo ideas from 2013 (seen above), however with an EV coronary heart.
Or maybe a correct little sports activities automotive to go face to face with Toyota’s new electrical MR-2, a road-going model of this yr’s Max-Out electrical roadster idea (seen under). Espinosa says his dream could be for the hypothetical entry-level sports activities automotive to come back in customary and Nismo varieties, identical to its Z and GT-R massive brothers.
Notice: The illustrations on this story are like that one cousin at household gatherings – unbiased and never formally a part of the Nissan clan.
However earlier than we get too carried away, it’s value contemplating that conventional driving thrills may not be central to attracting a brand new era of patrons, or no less than not as necessary because it having expertise that lets these younger drivers join digitally to their associates and the automotive group. And possibly we ought to organize ourselves for the likelihood that it’ll look extra like a crossover than a modern-day 240SX.
After all, the entire plan could be wishful pondering. A decade on there’s no signal of the IDx twins, with one alleged Nissan insider claiming the automaker couldn’t make a enterprise case for the vehicles. Let’s hope that’s modified, as a result of if Nissan can actually convey a fun-to-drive EV to marketplace for lower than the worth of a Z, we will’t wait to see and drive it. What kind would you want an electrical little brother to the Z to take? Try the gallery of old-timer, reasonably priced Nissan efficiency vehicles under for some retro inspiration.
