Car News

Nissan won’t be building a Mazda MX-5 / Toyota 86 competitor

We’ve got some bad news for lovers of cheap, lightweight, rear-wheel drive sports cars – Nissan has officially given up on building a production version of their rear-drive IDx concept (pictured), which would have competed with the Mazda MX-5 and Toyota 86.

Nissan’s senior vice president, and chief creative officer Shiro Nakamura said the idea to add a third sports car (the others being the 370Z and GT-R) to the company’s lineup had been shelved for now due to the cost of developing a new platform. “You need a proper platform because it has to be light and small and also affordable,” Nakamura said. “In reality that is not easy to find. It also has to be rear-wheel drive – if we make it front-wheel drive it would be cheating. It is expensive and we are struggling.”

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When asked about the potential for Nissan to use the Renault Alpine platform, he dismissed that idea, as well. “We are not a mid-engined car company. We don’t have the same heritage as Alpine,” he said.

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Nakamura did have some good news for sports car fans though, confirming that the 370Z and GT-R will always be a permanent part of Nissan’s lineup. So even though both of those cars might be getting a little long in the tooth, fans can at least rest easy that they won’t be cancelled any time soon.

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