Really Nissan, Still Haven’t Made Up Your Mind On New GT-R And Z?

It seems like Nissan has forgotten to replace both of its sportscars, namely the GT-R and the 370Z, which have been in the market since 2007 and 2008 respectively – although, to their defense, the former has been updated numerous times.

There have been many reports on the future of Nissan’s performance models for years but we haven’t really seen or heard anything solid on the matter for quite some time.

Nissan’s Chief Planning Officer Philippe Klein, however, broke the silence by confirming to Top Gear that they are still working on their replacements, without revealing too many details.

“It’s true that performance cars are ‘under the gun’ of regulations,” said Klein. “It’s making the idea more complicated. But the emotion [for us] is still there, for us and for our customers.”

“We have the Z and the GT-R, lots of fans, and we are fans of these cars also. I’m not able to give you details, but I would like you to keep in mind that we are considering the future of these vehicles.”

According to Klein, Nissan is still working out which route to take with the next generation of its sports cars as the industry is rapidly shifting into the era of electrification. He also admitted that it’s been an awfully long time since a new GT-R or Z car appeared in the market.

“The driving experience is very high on our priority list. I don’t know how much experience you have with EVs, but they are very fun to drive,” he added. Nissan is also planning to expand its hybrid e-power technology, which is another obvious candidate for their next sports cars.

“In the end we would like the regulations to take nothing away from how fun the car is to drive. It’s not always easy, but this is the direction. Yes, we’re still looking at the future of sports cars, hot cars and fun to drive cars.”

So, are the next GT-R and Z models going to be electric or hybrids?

“We’re still working hard on different options” said Klein, “but I can’t give you an answer just yet. The regulations bring a lot of concerns, so the question is how to answer these constraints and still offer a car to the consumer that’s fun to drive. But there are different options and we’re working on them. We’re defending the sports car.”

Well, that’s nice to hear, but if Nissan is indeed still contemplating what path to take, instead of actually developing the cars, we’re probably in for a long wait – much to rival manufacturers’ joy, we may add.