Nissan harshed our mellow last week when it was reported there’s a good chance the next Skyline will become an electric crossover, and not a sedan like it’s been since 1957. It seemed like a sad fate for one of the longest lived and most beloved nameplates in Japanese automotive history, but a realistic one considering the state of the industry. Let’s say you’re suddenly the president of Nissan.
What should the next-gen Nissan Skyline really be?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What are your favorite cars as emoji?“.
Well, not all QotWs can be winners, and writing out car names in emoji is harder than we thought. Some creative ones included Tofu Delivery‘s AE86, CMadd‘s Nissan lineup, and EJ‘s clever Subaru jab. This week’s winner, however, is Johnny, who gave really put thought into representing each vehicle in his own fleet:
Current fleet (including non-JNC):
🖤🪙 = 10th AE Datsun 280ZX, because BLACK GOLD!!!
🍏🛦 = Kawasaki GPZ900R, if Maverick’s bike was candy apple green
🍂 = LEAF, self-explanatory
🧰 Toolbox = BMW E34, since it is shaped like a box and always needs work
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
The Skyline is one of the oldest, and most prestigious names in the Japanese auto industry, and Nissan needs to show some respect and appreciation for that if it is to give it the future it deserves. Yes, it’s not exactly a “true” Nissan since they got it via Prince, but other than Fairlady, and maybe Bluebird, Nissan hasn’t got a single name with equivalent recognition, and has nothing remotely upscale at this point. Even the Japanese Nissan website pointedly gives this away with the fact that everything except the GT-R and Fairlady are utterly mundane grocery getters, with the Skyline sitting in a lonely “sedan” category at the bottom of the page.
There is no point turning it into a lame crossover “coupe”, as really they already have the Ariya doing that. I mean, it’s not like it has a practical rear roofline. If you are going to actually do a premium electric car, then it makes no sense not go low, swoopy, and treat it as much of a design statement as an object of transportation. Nissan was in this market before Tesla, but squandered the early advantage of the Leaf by failing to update it to reflect the market’s changes, and now it’s a totally forgotten also-ran. If Nissan want to have a successful future, they need people talking about it. And people aren’t going to talk about another electric crossover when they are literally a dime a dozen. No one will care.
Reach deep into the Nissan styling department’s bag of tricks, start working from the IMs concenpt, and do the same kind of thing that the Porsche Taycan and Cadillac Celestiq do, but for half that price. It doesn’t have to be affordable, but it does have to be accessible enough that someone who wants style over practicality, but isn’t part of the 1% can buy it, and drive it. Do the styling right and every single car you sell is its own moving advertisement changing the narrative on Nissan. It even has the perfect name for that. Skyline is swoopy, upbeat, and unique. You can’t just buy something that rolls off the tongue that easily.
Or don’t be brave. Go the safe route everyone else is going down, and continue to let the Nissan name be linked to Altimas, trashy people, and bad decisions. Because a crossover Skyline that looks like everyone else’s crossover isn’t going to change anyone’s mind.
The next generation Nissan Skyline should still be a front- engine, rear-wheel drive car, as it has always been. The R34 included everything from the “lowly” RB20DE-equipped Skyline sedan to the GT-R, so the successor does not necessarily have to be high-end.
Eventually we all acclimate, but such a drastic change to such an inconic nameplate really sends ripples throughout the company. Ford successfully came through, but they were smart to still continue production of the original Mustang while selling the Mach-E alongside.
The Z, the Patrol, the Skyline, the GT-R and GTR, they’re engrained into our minds. If the “Skyline” nameplate suddenly became another identity………
An effigy.
It should be a continuation of what Nissan/Prince has always done, a car offered as everything from a sedan to an absolute monster. As a nod to where the future is going, take a page from Toyota’s handbook (who I believe has the absolute right strategy when it comes to the automotive future even if no one else thinks so) and offer the sedan and lower models with a hybrid/PHEV option. Keep the GT-R, but aim to outgun the last NSX by offering a performance hybrid option in addition to the traditional fire-breather.
I learned over the weekend that Dodge is bringing back the ‘Stealth’ nameplate as a Durango replacement. I understand the strategy to assign “family-friendly” models with names that parents/adults would remember fondly, and perhaps finally buy the name they could never afford in their youth. But it’s also a great way to destroy any heritage or legacy that’s been built up by the name.
Like a 240Z???
Better that the Skyline name be shelved or retired than suffer the EV crossover fate. If Nissan can’t build a car that deserves the Skyline name then at least allow the name to retain it’s mystique. Nissan can call another sheeple crossover anything; and who would care.
Who the hell is gonna buy an electric crossover Skyline that will cost double the price of the rest of their dull line-up? Double the price, double the weight, half the range. Maybe they could grow some brain cells and finally go and make that Vision GT concept they put in Gran Turismo, a last hurrah for the Skyline! Or take some styling cues from the IDX they refused to make despite demand for it, combined with a retro futuristic redesign of the old Hakosuka. Hyundai have proven retro futuristic designs can be popular with the Type 74 Concept. How are they going to make Racing games with modern cars in the very near future when all the manufacturers are making 4 wheeled cubes for people that hate driving? Assuming you can even have a car in the future. Nissan and the rest of them have certainly made sure we wont want one…