Nissan's head of global products dreams of a new Silvia that can compete with the Mazda MX-5 and Toyota GR86.
Ford has the Capri, Toyota has – maybe – the Celica. And now Nissan dreams of reviving the Silvia name.
This is what the boss, Ivan Espinosa, says in an interview with Top Gear . Specifically, Espinosa dreams of a competitor to the Mazda MX-5 and Toyota GR86, which has 'plenty of horsepower but which is also priced right'.
In the same interview, Ivan Espinosa makes it clear that the Silvia name still has many fans among motorists out on the roads today.
– The chance is there. But at the end of the day, it's a business, so I need to find a way to make this kind of proposal interesting to the bosses.
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– Sometimes these kinds of cars struggle a bit because the customer base is not that big. But it can actually work well. That is, if we find the right idea that can be sold all over the world, says Espinosa.
The product manager emphasizes that it is not enough to have such a car in individual markets or in individual parts of the world. It must be able to be sold everywhere to make sense.
– But it is my job to find a solution to this sort of thing. Because I think it will be good for Nissan and good for customers.
– And if I can get the right formula together, we can also make it happen, says Espinosa, referring to a new Silvia.
The Silvia name disappeared from Nissan's model range in 2002, when the last car with the chassis code S15 rolled off the assembly line in August. Ever since and long before that, however, the car has had a wide fan base.
It is especially film culture and the motor sport of drifting that have made Silvia's recipe with coupé shapes, rear-wheel drive and relatively modest weight popular.
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