Nissan “Z” Cars May Be Put to Rest

The ageing 370Z could be the last in a line of Z-badged rear-wheel-drive sports cars from Nissan Motor Co.

The business case for future Z cars is “difficult,” Philippe Klein, Nissan's chief planning officer, tells Australian website Drive. Pointing to declining sales for the overall sports car segment, Klein says Nissan may be better served by focusing its attention on the top-end GT-R supercar and expanding the lineup of performance variants of existing models under the carmaker’s Nismo sub-brand.

Nissan has no plans to “quit excitement” but may do so differently, Klein says. Previous reports have suggested a new path might include a performance-oriented crossover vehicle, which Nissan hinted at with the 2015 all-electric Gripz concept.

Nissan launched its first Z model in 1969 with the Datsun 240Z (known as the Fairlady Z in Japan). Subsequent iterations were the 260Z, 280ZX, 300ZX and 350Z. The current 370Z debuted in 2009.