The Nissan IDx and BladeGlider concept cars have been added to Nissan’s mid-term product plan, with possible launches within the next five years. Traditional replacements for the current 370Z and GT-R models are also in the pipeline.
That’s according to Nissan’s product planning chief Andy Palmer, who revealed at the Detroit motor show that the reaction to the concept cars seen late last year in Tokyo had been so positive that the firm has decided to build them.
The IDx is a small rear-wheel-drive coupé, shown in two different flavours, Freeflow and Nismo. Palmer said the IDx would be “low cost”, at mark the entry point of a range of Nissan sports cars.
The all-electric BladeGlider has been created as a way to inspire young people to be interested in cars again. “I wanted to create a real ‘bad boy’ sports car like when I was a kid,” said Palmer.
“I don’t want the car to be demonised anymore; this shows you can have a great handling sports car and be all-electric. Internally, we call it EV Symbol.”
Palmer said the biggest challenge for the concept, which was based on an Ariel Atom with a narrowed front track, was in convincing the engineers that it could work.
“With electric cars, you don’t need to put the engine where god intended anymore,” he said. “You can do a triangular shape, and keep the weight low and towards the back with where you place the batteries. It wasn’t the technical challenge, but instead convincing the engineers that it could work.”
On the GT-R, Palmer said the current model would continue to be renewed annually but it would be replaced by a version that would likely be a hybrid. He confirmed Nissan had trademarked the term R Hybrid, standing for Race Hybrid.
The next GT-R would keep the current cars aggressive and mechanical look, according to Palmer, and include the latest Nissan design cues.
The replacement for the 370Z would be a two-seat, rear-drive sports car as with today’s car. Palmer said that the model would likely adopt a downsized turbocharged engine in place of the V6 in the current model, although a V6 could still be offered in the Nismo version.
“The IDx is one extreme end of the spectrum, the BladeGlider the other,” said Palmer. “In the middle we’ll have our traditional sports cars, with a 370Z at the lower end and the GTR at the upper end.”
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