Auto News 5

What does the world need now? At this moment, I sincerely doubt the answer lies with more pickup trucks, but here's Suzuki's offering - which is little more than a warmed-over Nissan Frontier.

Many are the mid-size sedan offerings, and most are sold in large numbers. Naturally, whenever a product is produced in great quantities, its very popularity will cause a subset of its audience to seek an alternative. Something a bit sportier, or more luxurious, or more stylish. The Volkswagen CC, the Nissan Maxima, and the Mazda 6 all hail from mainstream automakers, yet all three address this desire for something more in a mid-size car.

With the wisdom gleaned over a full model cycle, or about five years in this case, I think it's safe to pronounce the returning Nissan Z car a winner. The original 240Z was a defining car for Nissan (then Datsun), and a beacon of sports car hope during the largely hopeless early 1970s. Unfortunately, it evolved - or, more accurately, devolved - into the tasteless and disco-y 280ZX and 300ZX. A magnificent redesigned 1991 300ZX restored Nissan's sports car to a position of glory, but spiraling sticker prices - especially for the most desirable, twin-turbo model - eventually snuffed out sales. After what seemed like an interminable wait, and an equally interminable parade of show cars, the 350Z finally arrived, to general acclaim.

The financial bear has taken a deep bite out of every sports car's hide. During October, entry-level roadster sales plummeted by more than fifty percent versus a year ago. Honda S2000 and Pontiac Solstice sales were down by two-thirds.