Nissan will show two sports cars at the Tokyo motor show; a crazy concept and a more realistic one that is closer to a production car.

The latter is Nissan's answer to the Toyota GT86, but rather than being a totally new concept, its styling is apparently inspired by a car from the company's past. Nissan would not confirm which model that is, but said it was 'not a Z car'.

The last sports car concept shown by Nissan was the Esflow at the 2011 Tokyo motor show.
The new concept is to be used to gauge reaction, and if the design goes down well, Nissan is likely to build a production version. This production car would be likely to feature the 197bhp, 1.6-litre turbocharged engine from the Nissan Juke Nismo.

Guillaume Cartier, the company's senior vice president for sales and marketing, admitted Nissan is still trying to build Nismo's identity in Europe. 'We mustn't do anything to dilute the brand. Nismo has to be credible.'
This means there won't be a Micra or Note Nismo in Europe, whereas Nissan feels it can get away with this sort of model in Japan where the brand is more established.

 

Datsun 120? That's the only "sports" hatch I can think of besides the Z cars.

I eagerly await Nissan's answer to the FT86, hopefully will start an entry level sports car war and maybe Honda can answer back with an S1500 or something.

 

yah, been kinda tracking this too. im interested in seeing the next gen Z and also this 86 competitor. perhaps if it turns out to be anything like a silvia, i'd be very interested.

been looking for a 4seater coupe for a while to replace one of my aging coupes. i want something small but with a tad more umph than the brz/frs.

 

I was thinking this SX 180

 

^ah, how could I forget LOL

 

cj- yep! silvia 180sx 240sx those were cool.

 

Nissan says the Subaru BRZ was designed for a midlife crisis, hints at a new sports car



Will be aimed at male auto enthusiasts who are in their mid- to late 20s.

Nissan will reportedly unveil a Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ competitor at the Tokyo Motor Show so it comes as little surprise that the company is talking smack about the aforementioned models.
In a recent interview, Nissan executive vice president Andy Palmer described the BRZ as a "midlife crisis" car that was designed for a "50-year-old." He went on to ask Motor Trend's Nate Martinez “Are you coming to the Tokyo Motor Show? You’ll see the answer to the midlife crisis. Except it won’t be for the midlife crisis.”
That's a little vague but Palmer said the car would appeal to male auto enthusiasts who are in their mid- to late 20s.
Little is known about the car itself but it will reportedly be a thinly veiled concept that could be destined for production. Speculation suggests it could use a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that develops 197 bhp (147 kW) but nothing is official as of yet.


Source: Motor Trend

 

crap... was looking forward to a 4 seater coupe a tad more mature than someone half my age would want.... funny that andy is saying the frs/brz is for some middle-aged folk with mid-life crisis. that might be true in japan, but i dont really think so in the us.

i dont remember ever seeing one middle aged balded guy driving a frs/brz.

 

I guess if you are in your 50s and want a sports car or fun car you are having a mid-life crisis. I wonder what the 370z age group is?






Funny last week in my parking lot there was a yellow Ford Focus ST have not really seen a lot of of them. The couple who came out of the doctor's office next store had to be in their 70s. The woman was driving it so much for people not wanting manual transmissions.

 

interesting data you found. :) it does look like these cars are mostly bought by bald headed men...

i believe the 370Z was targeted for late 30's mid 40's crowd. but then out of those, the Z is the only 2-seater... so one that can afford a Z with a family will need multiple cars. the pool we took over at the Z site showed most folks had income over 100K.

 

Just like Scion you cannot blame older people for buying them Toyota built vehicles fully loaded for under $20k. Older people look for reliable vehicles without paying a arm and a leg especially if they had a history with some of the issues with domestic vehicles in the 70s, 80s and into the 90s.

 

but it is sad to know that the current average middle class can only afford a $28K sports coupe at their 'mid-life crisis' age. most likely because these folks just keep spending, dont know how to save money, nor generate net worth.

given said that, even if nissan released a car targeted for younglings, i bet the mid-life crisis crowd will buy it cause that's the best they can afford. sad sad sad!

 

In my area any rear wheel drive cars are part time cars with winter can be from November to April so to spend a lot on a car that maybe be driven 6 months would not make sense. One reason you can find a lot of the first generation Miatas' with low miles around here.

If I was to suffer from a mid-life crisis I would not want to die from a fast car, I would rather marry a 20 year old girl.

 

that's very understandable for the general population especially in this economy. it's sad.

im also in the snow belt state and i already put away my cars for the season. would defeat the purpose of having these cars if i was stressed out having to have to wash the salt off all the time, or risk getting hit by some dumbarse driving on crappy tires in the snow, etc.

im still not understanding the notion of buying a sports car for mid-life crisis. i would be more intrigued in starting my own business or something.

 

Have a few clients who brought businesses and even up routed and move when in their 60s not so much as a mid-life crisis but still looking for opportunity. I think the sports car is an old adage to the mid-life crisis for someone who wanted a sport car and did not want to appear as they are not acting their age. Now a days more older persons are more active and want to have fun not just sit on the couch.

 

yah, i truely do not see the connection between buying a sports car to fill an emotional void inside. that sounds silly to me. i'd be out there like your clients looking for opportunity for self gratification.

on the other side, folks that claim some middle aged person buying a sports car due to mid-life crisis is only saying that cause they are probably losers themselves and cant afford any luxury other than a $5 starbucks fix to add on top of their $10K credit card debt. lol

 

I think some "middle-aged" people buy these sport cars because it's reasonable to have them at that point in their life and want a little bit of fun. Maybe the guys are just glad to be rid of their minivan and have some fun? Especially with people having kids later and later in life some parents will be 50 or 60 by the time the kids are out of the house or have their own cars.

I would drive a coupe if it wasn't such a pain in the ass to use it to do all the things I need to do with my car between family and work.

Also not everybody likes cars enough to pay alot for one. A large majority of the population will buy the most affordable, reliable car that fits their lifestyle. Not so much that they CAN'T, it's that they don't WANT to. I know plenty of $100k+ earners that drive old cars, or cheap cars. The ones that drive luxo barges are generally douchebags or have mental issues. This especially holds true in the Bay Area, where a Tesla S gets you more cred than any 7 series.

Stay green lol

 

In addition there is a lot more older people in the USA today so if you look at all the car sales by manufacturers the average age is going to be higher.

U.S. New Car Buyers Aging Except For Buick

April 20, 2012 by Matt Keegan


A three year average rise in new car buyers since 2007.
The average age of car buyers rose by three years from 48 in 2007 to 51 in 2011. Car manufacturers may sometime make a big deal about the age of its new car buyers as a younger average points to a more youthful following. Well, as anyone can tell you, a lot of young people simply cannot afford to buy a new car. Many are unemployed, others are in school, while still others are attempting to raise families and aren’t about to shell out nearly $30,000 for a set of wheels.
Polk Study Revelation

R.L. Polk & Co. has been tracking the average age of car buyers for many years and has taken note of the across the board increase for all brands except one: Buick. While the average age of a Lincoln buyer has risen by five years and a Suzuki buyer by six years, Buick is the only brand to see a reduction. In this case the average of a Buick buyer has fallen from 62 to 59. Buick still has the oldest demographics of any car brand except for Lincoln (60), but it also demonstrates how hard GM has worked to transform its premium brand to appeal to younger buyers.
Interesting, Polk divides the brands into luxury and non-luxury makes, placing Buick in the latter. GM advertising calls Buick a “luxury” brand, but that isn’t quite accurate. Buick sells premium cars with some models competing with lower end Lexus, Audi and Acura models while Cadillac competes head-to-head against luxury brands.
Advancing Youth Appeal

In any case, Buick at 59 and Lincoln at 60 compare to Land Rover at 47 and Mazda at 48. That the pricey Land Rover brand is affordable to young drivers may seem to be a mystery. Still, when most people are in their 40s, they’re fast approaching their highest wage levels, usually reached while in their 50s. Youthful, zoom-zoom Mazda should be no surprise, a brand that is tied with Volkswagen and Mitsubishi in reaching the youngest new car buyers.
Will the average age of new car drivers fall beginning this year? That seems plausible as the market continues to rebound and new car sales may top 14 million units in 2012 for the best year since 2008. However, it still takes people working and consumers feeling confident that the new car purchase they make today is something they can pay tomorrow and for years to come. Young people may want new cars, but following a bad case of sticker shock they may stick with their current cars or head over to their used car dealer for a lower-cost deal.
Lucerne, Verano Buyers

As far as trend-breaking Buick goes, the brand can point to several new models attracting younger buyers. The Regal has done the best job of lowering the numbers for Buick, though the smaller Verano seems to attract an older (59) buyer than the brand’s managers expect or want. At least that age is much lower than the now retired Lucerne, whose average buyer was 70 years old.


Wall Street Journal

In recent years, auto makers have developed a bevy of pint-size models like the Chevy Sonic, Fiat, Ford Fiesta and Kia Soul, and promoted them using social-media, music festival sponsorships, and in some cases, daredevil stunts. To hype the new Chevy Sonic, General Motors Co. filmed the subcompact parachuting out of a plane for an online campaign aimed squarely at 18-to-30-year-olds.

But the largest customers for these cars, about 42% of buyers this year through May, are closer to retirement age, according to registration data compiled by car-shopping website Edmunds.com. The proportion is up from just 29% five years ago.

Meantime, the percentage of 18- to 34-year-olds buying new subcompact cars fell to 12% through May, down from 17% in 2008, according to registration data.

Of course, 50 and 60-somethings are some of the biggest buyers of all cars.

"The baby boomer generation is the largest cohort in the marketplace," Kia's Mr. Sprague said. "Just by virtue of their numbers being so large, we'll continue to see them skew the data for a long time."

Last year, buyers 55 and older accounted for more than 40% of all new car sales, up from 33% in 2008 while buyers between the ages of 18 and 34 represented only 12% of new-car purchases. And that is down from 14% five years ago, according to Edmunds.com.

Auto makers' big prize is the "Millennial Generation"—that group of consumers in their 20s and 30s whose numbers could rival the postwar baby boom that has dominated the auto market for decades.

 

This is very true. same can be said about many things including clothing, where people live, what they eat, how they travel, how they decorate the house, etc. :)

cj- woahh, just looking at buick emblems gives me a headache. hahahaha.

 

yes, i noticed old people in Focus ST's too... keep in mind, the older generation actually had to drive manuals. lol. even my parents drove manuals and that does not make them cool. lol. that is why i crack up when these kids act like they are cool because they drive a manual. (often poorly)

i think these statistics are often wrong since the person buying cars is the man of the household. so daddy will buy a car for his daughter and it will show that a middle aged man bought the car, when in fact a teenage girl chose it.