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Production Nissan IDx Not Coming Until After 2016, If Ever

Earlier this year, the sporty Nissan IDx concept cars (IDx Freeflow and IDx NISMO) were practically a lock to go into production by 2016 following statements made by Nissan executive vice president Andy Palmer. According to WardsAuto, though, Nissan is having a hard time making a business case for a production version of the IDx.
Nissan IDx Concept 1 photo
Photo: Nissan
Speaking to Nissan’s vice president of product planning, Pierre Loing, the problem comes down to the platform. Not only would the IDx be a low-volume seller, it would also require a dedicated platform since the rear-wheel-drive platforms currently used by Nissan and Infiniti are found on higher-priced models. A production IDx would go after entry-level sport coupes like the Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S and Hyundai Genesis Coupe, which all have starting prices well under the $30,000 mark.

As the article points out, Subaru and Toyota managed to get around this platform cost issue by teaming up with one another to develop the BRZ, FR-S and Toyota GT-86, but there is no indication that Nissan has any such plans to work with other automakers to co-develop its rear-drive sports car. During the interview, Loing didn’t officially put the nail in the IDx’s coffin, but things aren’t exactly looking positive for the coupe either.

“Will (the IDx) become something or not is debated, but certainly not (by 2016),” he said.

Loing added that even if Nissan could sell 50,000 of these rear-drive compact coupes, it still wouldn’t be worth the platform’s development costs for Nissan. And 50,000 sales would be highly unlikely since the BRZ and FR-S have combined for less than 12,000 sales so far this year.

For a while, things were looking pretty good for the IDx concepts following their global debut at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show and North American debut at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. Nissan even brought them to L.A. for a couple days of playing and showing off. But for now, at least, if you're looking to get behind the wheel of a sporty, afforodable Nissan product, you'd better check out the front-drive Juke crossover.
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