Nissan slashes 370Z prices again

NISSAN Australia has again taken the machete to prices of its 370Z two-seat sportscar as it gets set to launch the venerable Zed-car’s first Nismo variant late this month.

While confirming that the 370Z Nismo will hit showrooms at a sharp $61,490 plus on-road costs, Nissan has announced a $6140 chop to the price of the standard 370Z Coupe, as well as a $4940 slice off the 370Z Roadster price.

This means the six-speed manual coupe will slip under the $50,000 mark, to $49,990, while the manual drop-top will line-up at $60,990. The optional seven-speed automatic transmission adds $2500 to the bottom line in both cases.

It is the second time in recent years that Nissan has heavily reduced 370Z prices. The 370Z Coupe, for example, is now $20,000 cheaper than it was in 2013.

The 370Z is the oldest model in the Nissan line-up, notching up eight years on the Australian market in April.

The new coupe-only 370Z Nismo is a tweak of the current model, with a little more power and other goodies.

Like the standard variants, it gets a choice of six-speed manual gearbox or seven-speed auto, with the latter also adding a $2500 premium onto the $61,490 manual base price.

Nissan says it will spell out further details on the 370Z Nismo at its Australian media launch in two weeks, but, if power and torque figures for the American version are any guide, the atmo 3.7-litre V6 should produce about 260kW of power and 374Nm of torque – 15kW and 11Nm more than the standard 370Z.

This is well short of the 441kW/625Nm produced by the first Nismo-enhanced model to arrive in Australia, the GT-R Nismo, which went on sale in the first quarter of this year.

However, the price of the 370Z Nismo is also a substantial $235,000 less than the $299,000 ask for the GT-R Nismo.

Nissan Australia managing director Richard Emery said the impending arrival of the Nissan 370Z Nismo allowed the company to take another look at pricing across all 370Z variants.

“The Nismo version naturally sits at the top of the Nissan 370Z range, but we wanted to maintain competitive pricing,” he said. “This re-positioning offers a range of price points that will be attractive to a wider group of customers.

“We hope this will drive sportscar buyers into Nissan showrooms, giving them more choice and offering significantly more value for money.”

Nissan says the new pricing will be permanent.

Almost 4200 370Zs have been sold in Australia since the model superseded the 350Z in April 2009. It was given a refresh for the 2013 model year, but has remained largely unchanged in all those years.

Apart from the GT-R Nismo and 370Z Nismo, Nissan Australia is also said to be eyeing a Nismo version of its Juke small SUV in its next generation that arrives around 2019.

2017 Nissan 370Z pricing*

Coupe	$49,990
Coupe (a)	$52,490
Roadster	$60,990
Roadster (a)	$63,490
Nismo Coupe	$61,490
Nismo Coupe (a)	$63,990

*Excludes on-road costs