Nissan’s senior vice president for global design has confirmed that the Japanese brand is indeed working on a successor to the decade-old 370Z, saying that he is feeling “huge pressure” to help create something worthy of the “Z” badge.

Speaking to Which Car, Alfonso Albaisa confirmed that planning for the next-generation Z-car had already started.

“The Z-car, oh my god. Huge pressure,” Albaisa told the Australian publication of upcoming successor to the 370Z.

“You can imagine I’m completely excited that I am in the position to work on that,” he added.

As Which Car points out, October 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the original 240Z. And, with the Tokyo Motor Show taking place in that very month, the publication speculates that Nissan could be gearing up to show off an early prototype.

“Democratisation of the sports car, the 240Z … unforgettable,” Albaisa said. “Even in the modern day … the 300ZX of 1989, this Japanese simplicity was impressive.”

Meanwhile, a report from March 2018 suggested that Nissan would team up with Mercedes-Benz to develop the brand’s next-generation Z-badged sportscar.

Original article from Car