Nissan boss 'not ruling out' another petrol-powered Z car

The boss of Nissan Australia has not ruled out there being a future petrol-powered Z car after the new one which has just launched locally this week.

Asked whether the next Z – if there was one – would be a hybrid or fully-electric vehicle, and if the new model was the last of its kind, Managing Director Adam Paterson said it depended on whether changes were made to local emissions standards.

If, in theory, Australia's fuel-efficiency standards didn't budge and continued to lag well behind other OECD countries as they are now, the MD said another internal combustion-engined Z could still be a possibility.

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"I think we'll consider internal combustion investment if there's a market to sell it – based on the longer timeframe that sports cars generally run as far as product cycles are concerned, and what the regulatory environment is," Paterson told Wheels.

"The question will be, are we able to offer it based on what the main three markets [Japan, the US and Australia] globally allow us to from an emissions standpoint?

"I think it's difficult for us to at this point to say: 'yes, there'll be another one' or 'no, this is the last one', because I don't think we have absolute clarity on the regulatory environment that we would be selling the next generation into.

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"But why not, right? When we built the last one did we ever think that there would be a next generation? I'm not sure. But as we're launching this one the next one isn't developed and ready to go for 2026... or something like that."

For now, the Z is offered in Australia with a 298kW/500Nm 3.0-litre turbo petrol V6, matched to a choice of six-speed manual and Mercedes-sourced nine-speed automatic transmissions.

The new Z starts from $73,000 with a standard features list that matches the priciest Performance pack offered in the US.

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