Carrina Manual

Nissan is looking to revitalise the 200SX sports coupé that will take on the Mazda RX-7 and VW Scirocco, insiders say.

The 200SX coupé replacement would slot beneath the 370Z sports car to give Nissan a more affordable, fuel-efficient fastback as oppose to the VW Scirocco and the Renault Mégane 3dr.

The coupé would be rear-wheel drive, but the problem of finding a suitable platform on which to build it is tricky. A shortened 370Z chassis has been considered at one point but it was too heavy. The convertible rear-drive sports car that Nissan was exploring at one time, which could also have provided the hardware has been abandoned.

Nissan is making use of the next generation of its Tiida compact family car — sold in Slovenia, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Poland, Russia, Greece, Switzland and Ukraine — to strengthen its family car line-up alongside the Qashqai. The Qashqai crossover has been a colossal success, but the car maker still wants a regular small family car to replace the Almera, so it can take on the VW Golf, Vauxhall/Opel Astra, Kia Cee’d/Hyundai i30 and Ford Focus across Europe.