Nissan has a chance to claim the title of Australia's best-selling sports car in 2023 as its key rivals for its new Z play catch up.
The Z predecessor, the 370Z, has been convincingly outperformed by the Ford Mustang and Toyota 86 since both arrived. But a window of opportunity has opened for Nissan, with the new Z arriving as both the Mustang and GR86 are yet to land in local showrooms.
Based on sales data to the end of July, the Mustang is on course to sell approximately 1600 cars in 2022, while Toyota has seemingly run out of 86 supply with only a single sale recorded in the first seven months of 2022.
Nissan reports to have 1200 pre-orders for the new Z with deliveries now getting under way. Crucially this comes several weeks before Toyota is due to launch the new GR86 and manual Supra, and with no clear timeframe when Ford Australia will begin receiving the new Mustang. The new pony car is due to be revealed in September at the Detroit Motor Show, which suggests it’s unlikely to hit Australian showrooms until the second half of 2023 at the earliest.
This means that the contest in the affordable sports car market is likely to be intense and hard to predict in 2023, with at least two and likely three popular new models competing for buyer’s attention.
The problem is, popularity is a double-edged sword in the current climate, with car makers still scrambling for supply to meet demand with many popular models.
Nissan Australia managing director, Adam Paterson, admits supply constraints will be the biggest challenge for the brand and are a greater concern than claiming the title of Australia's favourite sports car.
“If by most popular do we mean are we going to sell more than anyone else? That’s a difficult question to answer because you’re asking me again about supply,” he said. “We do not have clear line of sight in terms of how many we’ll be able to secure in calendar ‘23 or fiscal ‘23.
“Can we be the most popular in terms of the most loved? Yeah… but in terms of selling the most, I can’t answer that question.”
For Mr Paterson and Nissan Australia, the question of what a successful roll-out of the new Z looks like isn’t as simple as outselling the Ford and Toyota. The company opted to re-invest in the ageing 370Z to create the Z, despite the overall market for sports cars declining over recent years, because it plays a key role in defining the brand’s image.
“I think this is the right car at the right time. But I keep getting the questions of ‘are you going to sell more than others?’ and it was you that asked me [earlier] ‘what does success look like?’” Paterson explained. “Success is obviously, firstly do we sell the cars we have access to, yes. I have absolute confidence that won’t be an issue. But is that really success if you’re asking me if success is selling more than Mustang. But for me success is really what the car does for the brand.”
The test for all three brands with these similar sports coupes will come not in 2023, but 2024 and beyond when these are no longer the shiny, new models in the showroom. The Mustang has enjoyed strong success since it arrived as a factory-produced right-hand-drive model - it’s often the Blue Oval’s best-selling passenger car - so there will be pressure on the new model to continue that form.
Which is why Nissan and the new Z need to enjoy this brief period of clear market to try and claim its place as the country’s most popular sports car - because the race is on.
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