S2000spoon

Hmm...i wonder if Honda made S2000's with automatics....How many more it will sell?

Can anyone find out how many 350z are sold in autos and manuals?

If Honda wanted the S2000 to sell in large quantities it would came with autos.

Christople

The S2000 is a convertible and stick only. People might want something different. I think the S2000 would compare to Miata and Z4 sales more than it would the 350z.

MrGTR

The Z is a sports car for the people, just like the first one was so its affordable and is Japan's best selling sports car of all time.

As for sharing parts, all cars do. 350z parts are used by the other models (not the other way around). The VQ engine is the only thing that is shared but even that is not quite the same as the altimas, maximas etc.

Nissan has participated in several major racing outfits, though they have been the most successful in Japan. So far, the 350z and the same VQ engined SKyline has won major races in the JTGC.

Officer_down

S2000 is limitedly produced in a few thousand a year, whereas the Z is massly produced, like cheap jeans from sweat shops in Asia that use child labor.

dcak

Going by numbers, the Z is more mass produced, but have you actually seen any difference in their manufacturing process?

Saint_Spinner

So in other words, for a company that doesn't care too much about a "sporty image" (ie, not participating in any international events...JGTC IMO does not count, since only people in Japan know what its about) makes a large amount of profit through their "Sports Cars"....

...Where as Honda, who "was" known as being very competetive in F1 (IMO the most prestigious in car racing) and one who constantly boasts about their "performance" and "sporty image" make very little profit on sports cars (unlike Ferrari)...anyone else find this odd?

VLich

Nope. At least around here Honda is known for fuel efficiency and reliability. No one thinks "performance" when they think Honda (unless it's bikes maybe ). Nissan/Datsun however has had sporty cars in the US since the '70s. I think Honda has a lot of catching up to do in the "sporty image" department. Making more RWD vehicles might help; FWD has a utilitarian stigma no matter how well the actual car in question might perform.

Saint_Spinner

hmmmm...I guess its a generation thing. I'm 27, and I remember Honda dominating in F1...I guess the 240z days were too early for me to remember

Rogazilla

Renault also owns a big share of Nissan, which participate in a lot of racing event. Many of the new design of Nissan definetly have been influenced by Renault. As in production, yes VQ acros platform are all not the same but using the same type of engine reduce the R&D. Nissan look at a broader market for Z since it has both stick and auto as well as hardtop and convertible. It make sense to steam line produce it. S2000 on the other hand is targeted at a much smaller group of buyer and also to make the car unique, it is hand assembled which also add onto the cost. Labor in Japan is certainly not cheap and in many area probably surpass the labor cost here. If they come out with S2000 DX, EX, LX, Si, Type R and whole bunch of trim to fit all kind of buyer than they can stream line the production and bring the cost down.

steven975

i think the biggest reasons for the lower profitability are:

the S2000 is a purpose-built platform. The engine and chassis are totally unique. But, then again, the F20C was the basis for the K series, so Honda did get something out of it...lower powertrain dev costs for the Si, RSX, element, accord, and crv.

honda never seriously marketed the S2000. it's almost as if they built it especially for us.