Nissan goes quiet on performance cars

Nissan's presence at the 2015 Detroit motor show could not have been further removed from the fanfare of its most recent international motor shows appearances, where former product chief Andy Palmer trumpeted striking new sports concepts like the compact IDx coupe, ground-breaking wing-shape BladeGlider and the GT-R powered Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge sedan.

Instead, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn presented the new US-only Titan pick-up, but there was no appearance – nor any mention – of other new Nissan models.

In contrast, at last year's Detroit show, Nissan revealed the striking Sport Sedan concept, which was tipped to preview a new-generation Maxima premium sedan and took centre stage alongside reappearances of the 2013 IDx and BladeGlider concepts.

Three months later at the New York show last April, Palmer told motoring.com.au Nissan was planning a four-pronged sports car assault comprising the all-new IDx and BladeGlider, and redesigned Z and GT-R models.

It's clear Nissan's former global planning chief was the driver of the 'born-again 200SX' and staggered-track triangular car, which is the subject of a law suit by US motorsport heavyweights Don Panoz and Chip Ganassi, who allege Nissan and the designer of the ZEOD RC racer and the BladeGlider road car, Ben Bowlby, copied the design of their Deltawing race car, a road version of which was also planned.

However, in the absence of Palmer, who left Nissan last year to become CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda, appears to have distanced itself from sports models like the rear-drive IDx and BladeGlider, both of which Palmer had indicated were destined for production.

Indeed, Automotive News reports both cars were absent from talks with senior Nissan executives at Detroit, where the cutting-edge future product message had "mellowed" in favour of a focus on volume products.

Also off the table at Detroit was the Q50 Eau Rouge performance sedan concept from Infiniti, which presented only a concept version of its next-generation Q60 coupe.

Just 10 days after filling the role of Infiniti's worldwide president vacated by Johan de Nysschen, who is now Cadillac's global boss, Roland Krueger confirmed a production version of the twin-turbo Q60 Coupe Concept for release next year.

He also indicated Infiniti would reveal its all-new QX30 compact SUV at the Geneva show in March, followed by the launch of the Q30 compact hatch by the end of this year and, later, a production version of the Q80 Inspiration concept, giving the Japanese luxury brand a small hatch and SUV at one end of the range and a new flagship limousine at the other.

However, Infiniti's US boss Michael Bartsch, a former Porsche Cars Australia marketing chief, ruled out a production version of the all-electric 2012 LE Concept and said no decision had been made on the Eau Rouge. Nor is there any word on a production supercar from Infiniti, based on either the 2009 Essence or 2012 EMERG-E super-coupe concepts.

"We have to be a little pragmatic," said Bartsch of the Q50 Eau Rouge, which de Nysschen last year said would be priced above $US100,000 and designed as a limited-edition 'halo' model that would attract only around 200 annual sales.

Bartsch added that Infiniti's priority was to rebuild its product portfolio with core models such as its entry-level Q60 coupe, which he stressed is "absolutely essential" to the brand in the US, where Infiniti has sold an average of 14,000 examples a year for the past 12 years.

For now, it appears Nissan's performance focus will remain firmly on the GT-R and 370Z, which along with the JUKE are expected to form the long-awaited Australian launch of Nissan's performance brand NISMO this year.

As we've reported, a NISMO version could be the only form in which Europe's new Pulsar comes to Australia, where the warmed over Pulsar SSS sedan will finally join its 1.6-litre turbo hatch sibling in March.