Nissan has confirmed that it will not build small, rear-wheel-drive sports cars soon.
The model which may have tackled the likes of Toyota’s 86 and the Mazda MX-5 in the sales-race would have sat below the current 370Z and GT-R models in the carmaker’s range.
But now, according to reports out of Europe, the small sports car plans have been returned to the shelf where they may sit for quite some time. According to Nissan Senior Vice President Shiro Nakamura, the company has a modular platform currently under development that could underpin a model range featuring both electric and fossil-fuel powertrains. In an interview with Auto Express, Nakamura says Nissan sees more possibilities in electric vehicles than just the Leaf hatchback, and that there could be a sports car or a crossover in the portfolio.
The idea of concept form is a combination of the Z-car styling themes with those of the new Leaf. The powertrain produces 107 horsepower, but thanks to low weight and a healthy amount of torque it had a theoretical 0-to-62-mph time of five seconds. The Leaf’s batteries are currently housed under the floor, which is good for weight distribution but raises the floor level – not something you want in an electric sports car, according to Nakamura. “For a crossover, we don’t care about floor height because the model already has a high ground clearance, a sports car you have to make as low as possible,” he said.
"We don’t want to limit our EVs just to the Leaf," Nakamura told Auto Express. "We’re the leading EV manufacturer, but I don’t think we can make it just off one EV, so we want to grow the portfolio – that’s our next plan. It could be a crossover, it could be a sports car; we see much more opportunity for EVs than just a hatchback."
Nakamura says it would be about five years before vehicles on this new platform show up.
