Nissan committed to replacing 370Z and GT-R

Nissan is plotting successors to both its Nissan 370Z and Nissan GT-R sports cars and is open to electrification and outside collaborations in their creation.

Speaking at the Tokyo motor show, Nissan product planning boss Ivan Espinosa said the two sports cars are "at the heart of Nissan and we are actively looking at and working on them”.

Without going into specifics, Espinosa said we “can expect something soon” on both models. He added: “I can’t share what but that doesn’t mean we’re not working on them. Nissan is about exciting cars.”

Both the 370Z and GT-R have been on sale in their present guises for a decade or more, in which time fewer and fewer car makers have been offering sports cars, and those that do are having to collaborate.

Speaking more generally on collaboration, Espinosa said he was open to conversations with other car makers with sports cars as he recognised the business cases for them have become ever more challenging.

“There are no golden rules and we are particularly open,” he said. “There are some elements you can’t play with as these are brand icons. There is a limit to what you can share and commonise, with expectations not to go beyond what customers expect from a brand.

“There are challenges and difficulties that will force us outside to look at different options but they are important to us.”

When asked about the potential for the Nissan 370Z’s successor to go electric, Espinosa said it is something Nissan is “discussing all the time”. However, he questioned whether traditional sports car buyers are ready to go electric and said the weight the battery brings to a sports car is a challenge that has to be overcome.

These are things that, Espinosa said, Nissan is “working on” but has yet to make a decision on.

Speaking separately at the show, Nissan’s senior vice president for design, Alfonso Albaisa, said the firm will never abandon its Z-car heritage.