| Does Nissan owe the Z32 enthusiast an apology?
It is 1999 and Nissan is $22 billion in the whole. A Z car hasn’t been put out in the states in over 3 years. Nissan merging with other auto manufacturers were beginning to become everyday board meeting topics. New Z car prices skyrocketed overnight due to the new SUV craze. Some considered the late 90’s the dark ages for Nissan. As dark times as they were, the true Z enthusiasts were still standing next to their pride flag until the seemingly close end. Things looked bleak for Nissan and their enthusiasts.
Due to financial worries, aftermarket product development and education was at an all time low for the Z32 during the later years. Very few new aftermarket parts were being developed and made available by Nissan at this time, even for the Japanese markets. After 2000, when newly appointed Carlos Ghosn began his campaign to pull Nissan out from the red, Z32 enthusiast had smiles across their faces but broken hearts were in their futures. Do CEO’s and execs alike ever think of past developments carried over for the future, since their main goal is fueling the constantly moving machine that is Nissan. It is hard to say if the post-Ghosn campaign was ever and will ever be going to be making immense to the most important individuals in the, then new, Z32 buyers market… the buyers. Some would argue that since Nissan had so much on their plate with getting out of sizable debt, developing new product and altering Japanese business taboos that had been in place for decades, that Nissan had too much to worry about. Way too much to concern themselves with a Z car that was now overpriced in every market and who’s product development was not a viable interest. “Out with the old and in with the new” unfortunately was bitterly felt by some here in the US when the Z32 was replaced with the 350Z. Bitterness caused by not campaigning the Z32 the way it should have been campaigned with in the 1990’s. Should the new millennium Nissan apologize for leaving Z32 owners with a bad aftermarket following? Should “new” Nissan show empathy for writing off the Z32 in 1996? Being in some cases a decade since its launch, the Z32 is now an early titled antique… a truly expensive antique at that. Aftermarket parts have been monopolized for years by the few developers there have been, service costs were and are astronomical due to the lack of mechanical data available to the market, inferior stock products that could only be cured by aftermarket parts developed by private Z enthusiasts; to name just a few. It is safe to say the Z32 enthusiast has had it rough for some time now. Don’t get me wrong. I am truly gracious to Mr. Ghosn for his painstaking efforts to turn Nissan around. I also believe that Mr. Ghosn deserved a very loud, up from your seats applaud. But now that his accomplishments have been applauded and I, along with all Z32 enthusiasts, have commended him, some type of apology may be in order. How long should we hold our breath, Mr. Ghosn?
*Note this is still in it's infantile stage so CONSTRUCTIVE criticism please. TIA**
    |
