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Nissan Working on Toyobaru Rival

Nissan has managed to challenge Toyota for leadership in the midsize car segment. Only 9,000 sales separate the leading Camry from the 2012 Altima sedan in the first quarter sales charts for the US market. So it’s got the cash and the marketing power, but what is Nissan to do going forward.
Nissan 200 SX 1 photo
Photo: Nissan
One potentially unexploited segment is represented by sportscars. The Nissan GT-R does whatever it wants, since its among the fastest cars on the market, largely unchallenged. Meanwhile, the 370Z is routinely beaten by Mustangs and other sportscars models that are often cheaper.

But according to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Japanese automaker plans to strike back with a new entry level model, a rival to the newly launched Scion FR-S. Could this be a revival of the Silvia?

“I much prefer smaller sports car. It is the time to look at that. With 370Z, we still don’t know next generation will have a larger or smaller engine,” said Shiro Nakamura, Nissan’s head of design.

Recent reports indicated the Infiniti G sedan would get a new powertrain labeled G30t, so we could be looking at a downsized 2.0-liter turbo in a RWD configuration.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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