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Nissan to Debut Compact Sports Coupe in Detroit

Would Azeal have Appeal with North Americas Youth Market?

Nissan has long offered a "pocket rocket" among its compact lineup, but rather than a standalone model its Sentra SE-R is a high-performance version of its 4-door Sentra economy car.

This seems to be the case for the majority of its competitors too, at least in the small car category. Only Hyundai, with its Tiburon, Toyota, with its soon to be discontinued Celica, more or less replaced by the Scion tC, Mitsubishi with its soon to be updated Eclipse, and Acura, which is considered to

The new Azeal concept will debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month. (Photo: Nissan North America)

be a premium brand but nevertheless fights it out in the lower end of the segment with the RSX, offer anything in the entry-level sporty coupe segment.

Previously it was a hotly contested class, with less sporting but nevertheless sporty looking models such as the Toyota Paseo, Mazda MX3 Precedia, Honda del Sol,

The new concept looks to share styling cues from its fenders to its roofline with Nissans award-winning 350Z sports car. (Photo: Nissan North America)

sportier Honda CRX and Prelude, and the list goes on and on.

Nissan was once in this market too, although its 240SX was a tad larger than its new Azeal concept will be when it debuts at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month.

For all points and purposes the Azeal looks to be a miniaturized 350Z, at least from the artists rendering Nissan included with the press release. The new concept looks to share styling cues from its fenders to

The Azeal is the first concept to be designed at Nissans new Farmington Hills, Michigan technical center. (Photo: Nissan North America)

its roofline with Nissans award-winning flagship sports car.

What makes it especially significant, is that its the first concept to be designed at Nissans new Farmington Hills, Michigan technical center.

If produced, the Azeal would be sold alongside the Sentra, and its top-line SE-R and SE-R Spec V siblings, or would replace the racy sedan. A new Sentra isnt expected until at least model year 2006 or 2007, with the automaker postponing its introduction to make sure when it becomes available it offers the same high level of visual appeal that its midsize Altima and Maxima do.

By the time the new Sentra, and

While the Azeal would add significant visual presence to Nissans entry-level lineup, its success in a slow sport coupe market wouldnt be guaranteed. (Photo: Nissan North America)

possibly Azeal become available for sale, it is also possible Nissan will be offering its Micra, currently sold in other markets such as Europe and Japan (renamed March), as an entry-level B-segment product.

The B-segment is being looked at seriously by most automakers today, due to rising fuel costs and the success Toyota has had with its new Echo Hatchback and Chevy is experiencing with its GMDAT (Daewoo) Aveo. Hyundai and Kia have offered vehicles in this segment to price sensitive shoppers, but their sales are down significantly this year due to added pressure of the newcomers.

A new compact sports coupe like the Azeal would add significant visual presence to Nissans entry-level lineup, but with the segment experiencing lackluster sales as of late and rivals axing once popular models, its success would not necessarily be a sure thing.

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