The Nissan 370Z Roadster will be discontinued for the 2020 model year. This has no effect on the availability of the regular 370Z coupe, which Nissan confirms will be sold alongside the Nismo and 50th Anniversary Edition coupes in the 2020 model year. After Motor Authority broke the story, we got confirmation directly from a Nissan representative:
"Yes, I can confirm that for model year 2020, Nissan will focus on the sale of the 370Z Coupe, NISMO and 50th Anniversary Edition. We will not offer the Roadster variant for the current-generation Z beginning with model year 2020."
Nissan has sold the Roadster variant since one year after the 370Z was introduced here for the 2009 model year. The discontinuation of the 370Z Roadster could hint that the old sports car is closing in on the end of its product cycle, but we're still not clear on any new sports car making its way down the line. Nissan hasn't proffered any kind of a replacement, and the latest and greatest variant of the Z is a stickered-up special edition anniversary car. Where the Z program will be in a couple years' time is anyone's guess, because the rumors and cryptic reports don't exactly add up.
The sales numbers aren't doing the performance car cause any good right now either. Nissan sold just 3,468 370Zs in 2018, which was the car's worst year in sales to date. We're not exactly surprised, since the 370Z has been on sale for about 10 years now without any significant changes. It's an old-school sports car in a modern world, and while there is certainly some romance in that, Nissan still needs to bring the Z up to date to bring the sales back up.
For now, you can snag a base 370Z with a manual transmission for $30,985 including the $895 destination charge. The 2019 Roadster starts at a significantly higher $42,815, which might explain part of why it's being dropped. If you wait for the 2020 50th Anniversary 370Z, you'll pay $37,715.
