Cars in the United States are continually getting more and more boring, but it’s not American car buyers’ fault. It’s the fault of our dealers, which always spec safe cars that won’t sit on the lot waiting for just the right buyer — meaning boring colors and boring option packages. That’s a shame on any car, but especially on gorgeous performance cars like the Nissan Z. The Z deserves better than dealer spec sheets, and it seems Nissan agrees because it’s changing up how the car will be sold. Soon, the Z will go build-to-order, so you can actually get your hands on that color you want.
The Drive spoke with Michael Soutter from Nissan, who explained the change. It doesn’t sound like the Z will be exclusively build-to-order, at least not immediately, but the priority for the model’s construction will now be customer orders rather than dealer stock. The idea, it seems, is to limit the amount of time that Zs need to languish on dealer lots before sale — and the amount of cash Nissan has to put on the hood to move them.
Pricier, but nicer
After all, Nissan is all about cutting costs right now, and paying customers to take your cars away sort of goes against the whole point of running a business. The company plans to give dealers more flexibility in the spec process, relying on them to understand what their local markets want from the Z. Hopefully, this will mean dealers open up the order sheets to customers, and we actually start seeing Bayside Blue coupes out on the roads.
Putting the power in dealer hands can be risky, especially when it means fewer discounts for buyers. But the Z is already outselling the Supra, and hopefully catering to customers better with options and colors will mean these start to flood the streets even more. I still haven’t seen one in the wild here in Brooklyn, outside of a dealer or auto show situation, and I’d very much like to.
