Nissan’s about to take a page out of Porsche’s playbook with the Z.
Thursday at the 2025 Los Angeles Auto Show, Nissan SVP Michael Soutter exclusively told The Drive that, for the Z sports car, “probably in the future, you know, we’ll see more of a build-to-order as opposed to a build-to-stock.”
Why? “Well, because it is lower volume, okay, so when we have a Kicks or Frontier, Pathfinder, Rogue, you know, we have kind of the liberty or flexibility to build what we think the market will sell. On this, if we get the color wrong, or we get the interior wrong, or we get the, you know, object package wrong, it’s just gonna sit there, and we end up, kind of, putting extra VME incentives, and, you know, trying to then push something to the mark of me, or may not rescue,” Soutter said.
“So having a more of a pull strategy, I think, is gonna help us probably help the volume, actually, to get the right car in the right place at the right time. So we’ll try it,” Soutter said.
When asked why Nissan didn’t just launch the most recent Z with this strategy Soutter said, “Hindsight? 2020, you know?”
“I mean, you know, works on a kind of GTR, you know, that’s a much lower show. That’s the strategy. So, you know, let’s get the dealers what they want, what they need, based on, like, it doesn’t have to be an order tied to a customer. It’s got to be the dealer that, you know, I’m committed to this color. I’m committed to this car. I will move it, if that’s what I need for my market. And I think it could actually help the volumes,” Soutter said about the strategy shift.
In terms of the Z’s price, Soutter said, “For the most part, in our lineup, we have a high cost structure that we’re working on, okay? So our fixed costs, our overhead in the company, is extremely high, okay? Our capacity is sort of out to here. We’re rationalizing our capacity, closing plans, getting rid of head count, everyone else. Once the fixed cost is put into alignment with where we should be, kind of a north start, the cost per unit comes down, from the cost per unit comes down, then pricing adjustments, and repositioning is gonna be possible. Right now, it’s just not possible. Tariffs is another part of the equation. We’re trying to offset and mitigate all the tariffs. We really don’t have a lot of pricing, flexibility right now. Once we get our cost per unit down, I think it’s gonna be an option that we can explore. I’m not suggesting we’re going to do it, but it becomes an option.”
For Z fans worried that the low sales volume will translate into the icon dying, Soutter said, “the volume does help us determine whether or not something lives or dies. Okay? But at the same time, we also have to have some DNA and, you know, legacy and everything else. And I can tell you that our CEO is a huge Z fanatic, and GTR fanatic. Big fan. Yes. So, you know, having this in our portfolio is a kind of a halo. You see, it’s pretty impressive, and it’s kind of our whole DNA around the powertrain, fun to drive, you know, adventure, something, everything else. To me, I think the volume is not the core determinant on this thing.”
It seems the Z is safe despite all the changes taking place at Nissan, but the automaker’s making immediate, and possibly future, changes to ensure it stays that way. And screaming deals on a new Z? Those are about to come to an end it seems.
www.thedrive.com
#Heres #Deeply #Discounted #Nissan #AwayMaybe #Good
