Rumormill: Nissan's MX-5 competitor is coming, only it's not
Nissan URGE Concept – Click above for high-res image galleries
AutoExpress – the automotive equivalent of the Weekly World News – is reporting through its usual unnamed sources that Nissan plans (again) to revive the 200SX/240SX with an all-new, rear-wheel drive model aimed at the Mazda MX-5. Styled through a combination of the Urge concept that debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in 2007 and the 370Z, the new model will supposedly be powered by a 1.6-liter four, propelling the coupe/roadster to 60 mph in around 6.5 seconds. The only problem: it's been dead for over two years.
According to our own sources at Nissan – both in the U.S. and Japan – the Urge concept was canned after the automaker decided the project was too niche to be released. When we spoke with then-head of Nissan Global communications, Simon Sproule, at last year's LA Auto Show, he told us that the coupe was on indefinite hiatus and the automaker couldn't make a business case for the new model in the near- or long-term. Nissan's design guru, Shiro Nakamura told us essentially the same thing during a meeting in Pebble Beach last August, and as early as December – at the launch of the new 370Z – Nissan's U.S. design chief made it clear that the Urge was dead.
AE contends that "the car has been held back because of the global financial slump," but the Urge's demise took place well before that. So unless AE has something more substantive than a rendering and a fictional on-sale date (2011), we're deeming this rampant speculation until we hear something official from Nissan.
Gallery: Nissan URGE Concept
[Source: AutoExpress]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Protzenegger 3:03PM (5/07/2009)
There's really nothing groundbreaking about the Urge concept. The Z always looked more stylish anyway.
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Redline 3:08PM (5/07/2009)
What a shame, would love to see a MX-5 competitor/baby Z
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s13hybrid 3:23PM (5/07/2009)
I would also like to see nissan make a smaller 350z. But hopefully it does not resemble the goofy looking urge concept.
I want a new 240sx/silvia/180sx/s16 of some sorts please.
Fritz 3:15PM (5/07/2009)
Isn't the MX-5 profitable? Too niche? I'm really getting tired of that old chestnut. You really don't need to sell 6 million of something to make money on it. If so, there's either too much red tape, or you don't belong in a position to run a business. Perhaps both. Mass production sucks!
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swimstarguy 4:04PM (5/07/2009)
Yes, you do need to sell a lot of something to pay for the research, development, tooling, etc. If you'r only going to sell a few it will be a loss.
there's a market for a few fun cars but not for every automaker to sell millions and millions.
Nick 3:32PM (5/07/2009)
The only thing NISSAN needs to do is put a 4-cylinder in the already existing Z, and pare down the options, giving it some cheaper wheels and that sort of thing to further reduce the price.
In fact, NISSAN already has the perfect engine for such a chore: the QR25DE found in the Sentra SE-R Spec V. It has 200hp/180lb-ft, revs to 7,000 RPM, and is 100lbs lighter than the VQ37. It's also already been employed in a longituidal RWD layout in the Frontier pick-up, so there's no doubt that it can't be used that way in the Z as well, especially since it's an ultra-compact package. About the only thing needed would be a way to get the Z's 6-speed mated up to it, or, a revised version of the 5-speed already used in the Frontier.
Job done.
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Henreh 3:59PM (5/07/2009)
Yeah but the QR is a terrible motor.
Nick 4:03PM (5/07/2009)
Care to elaborate on that? I haven't heard anything too bad about the engine in Spec V trim.
Stumpy 4:36PM (5/07/2009)
I love my MazdaSpeed Miata. So fun to drive. Though, I do wish some other companies would try and compete with it. I would like to see what they could come up with.
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Rocketboy 8:47AM (5/08/2009)
Damn, my feet so wanted their own window to look out of.
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