Nissan IDx Not Gonna Happen, Says Nissan Honcho

Pierre Loing said that the IDx concepts that caused such a stir last year are going nowhere.

A year ago January, Nissan had unveiled a series of cool concepts that seemed to hint at the company's plans to head into halo car territory and perhaps even take on the Toyobaru (Subaru BRZ, Toyota FT-86, Scion FR-S). The front of wild speculation about what cars were coming were the IDx concepts. Now, speculation is dead as Nissan has made it clear that none of those cool cars are coming.

This is very disappointing. The latest blow came from statements that Pierre Loing, VP of Product Planning for Nissan North America. Nissan is currently holding its press preview launch for the new Maxima sedan in Nashville, Tennessee and Loing spoke to those in attendance about the company's plans going forward. He made it very clear that those plans do not include the IDx.

“IDX is an interesting project; a show car that received good reception. But, to go from concept to production, the reality always kicks in,” Loing said about the future of IDx to TheTruthAboutCars.

Loing went on to further explain that the design of the IDx concepts, while based on the old Datsun 510's look, would not translate directly to another vehicle, even one that is front-wheel drive, because they were designed as rear-wheel drive cars. Developing a new platform for a RWD vehicle would be expensive for Nissan and would not be justified given the small numbers to be sold. Language from the IDxs' looks and the 510 they came from could move into other vehicles later, however, he noted. The designs, he admitted, were very well-received in the U.S. and Japan.

The Nissan honcho didn't state it directly, but he mentioned some Renault vehicles. Vehicles that would make great candidates as the platform for a front-wheel drive, retro-inspired car for Nissan. Specifically the RenaultSport Megane, which holds the FWD record at the Nurburgring.