The new Z. Nissan told us we’d see it on the road basically now, as in the spring. As it happens, we’re a little more than a month into that whole business — something I know to be true because I can’t drive with the windows down for more than 30 seconds without showering myself in respiratory droplets. Spring sucks for that reason; it also sucks because the new Z will miss its intended launch date.
Nissan has confirmed that its highly-anticipated sports car won’t be seen in showrooms or customer driveways until the summer. Per Car and Driver, which received the following statement from the automaker:
In a statement, a Nissan representative told Car and Driver that “due to unforeseen supply chain issues that are affecting the entire industry, there has been a slight delay to the summer of 2022.” Nissan’s consumer website still lists “spring 2022” as the launch date.
If we’re going to get all technical about this, the last day of spring is June 20, and summer runs until September 21. One would hope that Nissan’s phrasing of “slight delay” is cover-your-ass for a July release. That would certainly track, given that a leaked dealer memo originally pegged June as the sale start date. But the severity of the snag here isn’t known, so this could also mean September.
Supply chain issues are obviously to blame, though I have to take issue with Nissan’s use of the word “unforeseen” in that statement above. The auto industry has been beset by these bottlenecks for more than a year now; if the parts shortage is anything, it’s foreseen. Very well foreseen. It’s best to tack on two months to all future new vehicle launches, just to be safe.
With the Z’s release being pushed back, it’s likely that the pricing reveal will be delayed in kind. That’s arguably more frustrating, as it’s the only detail we still don’t know for certain about the car.
Nissan announced pricing for the Japanese market on Monday, with the base model starting at 5,241,500 yen, or about $41,100. American PR for the manufacturer previously quoted a $40K “ballpark” for the U.S., which would place it at almost $12K under the cheapest comparable Supra. (I’m not counting the 2.0 and neither should you.) The Z also had the advantage of a manual over its domestic rival, until Toyota finally decided to right that.
We got our first taste of the forthcoming Z in concept form in September 2020. It’s been a long road from prototype to production — what’s a few more weeks going to hurt?