1986 Nissan 300zx Base Coupe 2-door 3.0l Clean Car Fax on 2040-cars

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2014 Nissan 370Z Nismo

Michigan is one of those places where we can sub-divide the seasons into good and bad portions, with each producing a noticeable shift. The week prior to my time in the 2014 Nissan 370Z Nismo, it was 65 to 70 degrees and sunny, all week long. Anyone care to guess what the following week was like?
Windy, cold and damp weather typified my week in the Z, with temps hovering around 55 degrees and several days of showers. Yes, I got the first week of the bad part of fall. The Z was hardly happy during its time with me, but we both persevered, and I made a point of sprinting out to the garage anytime the ground seemed remotely dry enough to test this striking two-seater. That enthusiasm waned quickly, though, as the week wore on.
By all accounts, the Z is a car that I should like. It's an uncompromising sports car, but as I discovered during my travels, sometimes a little compromise is welcome, and living with a car like the Z - particularly the angrier, Nismo-tuned model - quickly becomes a case of too much of a good thing.

Nissan and Renault shelve merger plans, will repair their alliance

Renault and Nissan have shelved plans to push towards the full merger former leader Carlos Ghosn craved and will instead fix their troubled alliance to try to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, five senior sources told Reuters. Nissan has long resisted Renault's proposals for a full-blown merger as executives felt the French carmaker was not paying its fair share for the engineering work it did in Japan, sowing discord that some feared could wreck the partnership. Now, with carmakers around the world reeling from the pandemic, the partners are planning to overhaul an alliance that largely failed to convert its global scale into a competitive advantage beyond the joint procurement of parts. Both struggling carmakers are set to announce mid-term restructuring plans this week that will serve as a peace treaty designed to resolve the long-standing tensions, five people familiar with the overhaul told Reuters. "After the rain, the earth hardens," said one senior Nissan source, citing a popular Japanese proverb that means relationships become stronger after a period of strife. All five sources within the alliance, which also includes Mitsubishi, declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak with media. Nissan and Renault are each planning substantial restructuring and cost cuts that could affect tens of thousands of jobs, with the Japanese company to announce its measures on May 28 and its French partner likely to follow the next day. Before that, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Renault are holding a joint news conference on May 27 during which they are expected to outline the philosophy behind their new "leader-follower" approach to the alliance. The sources said the companies were unlikely to disclose many details at the events this week of how the new approach will be used to share costs as the companies were still working on specific projects. However, the crisis at both carmakers has accelerated efforts to resolve the disagreements that have stymied collaboration and cost-sharing in technology and product development for five years, the sources said. Mitsubishi, Nissan and Renault all declined to comment officially about alliance plans. 'Leader-follower' The alliance has steadily ramped up output over the years, delivering over 10 million vehicles for the first time in 2017, the first full year after Mitsubishi joined the partnership.

Infiniti to move forward with 'Nissan-plus' strategy for its future cars

Sales at Infiniti in 2019 were down in the dumps. While the market as a whole fell 1.2%, Infiniti brand sales were down 21%. Nissan wasn’t too far behind, with its sales sliding 9.9% year-to-year. None of those numbers look great, but Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta still sees a path forward for NissanÂ’s luxury brand, Infiniti. “We will bring back Infiniti as Nissan-plus, in terms of product and technology," Gupta told Automotive News. “Infiniti will be great again.” Historically-speaking, Infiniti has been “Nissan-plus” for a long time over the years. Many vehicles in its lineup have been re-skinned versions of Nissans with some luxury thrown into the mix, and thatÂ’s not necessarily a bad thing. There have been some standouts, namely the original Q45 with its pioneering active suspension and shockingly sporty dynamics. And then there are the G coupes and sedans, vehicles that are still desirable to enthusiasts today. View 31 Photos InfinitiÂ’s current enthusiast offerings revolve around the Q50 sedan and Q60 coupe, both of which are rear-wheel-drive (or all-wheel-drive) cars with sporting intentions. ThereÂ’s no equivalent Nissan sold in America, but the Q50 is the Nissan Skyline in Japan. ItÂ’s impossible to know what the fate of these rear-drive-based cars will be, but a few possibilities lie ahead. Infiniti could really lean in to the “Nissan-plus” nomenclature and repurpose the new Altima as an Infiniti sedan. More likely, however, is a move to electrification. The Nissan IMs Concept and Infiniti Q Inspiration Concept both suggest that the company is interested in creating electric sedans. A “Nissan-plus” electric sedan sure sounds a whole lot better than a front-drive-based rebadged Nissan. InfinitiÂ’s biggest problem at this second is the lack of new product on the market. Its QX50 crossover is the most recent big redesign weÂ’ve been witness to, but it needed replacements yesterday for the QX60, Q50 and Q60 to be competitive with others in those segments. Both Lexus and Acura are outpacing Infiniti by a wide margin. The path forward as “Nissan-plus” also suggests Infiniti aims to be a premium brand, rather than a full-fledged luxury brand competing toe-to-toe with Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. ThatÂ’s consistent with how the brandÂ’s cars have stacked up in recent years, even as it collaborated with Mercedes to put an Infiniti badge on the GLA crossover.