Nissan creates Nismo road car division, promises more hot vehicles
Nissan has created the Nismo Cars Business Department as part of its plans to expand its range of Nismo-branded cars and increase sales.
The new department will be housed within Autech, the company’s vehicle conversion business, with talent drawn from Nissan, Autech, and Nissan Motorsports.
Nissan hopes this new structure will enable it to “plan and develop more appealing products in a shorter time”, as well as “expand the range of Nismo road cars to new segments, [and] market them more globally”.
At present, around 15,000 Nismo-branded cars are sold globally across the world.
The only Nismo model currently available in Australia is the GT-R Nismo. Featuring a more powerful 441kW/652Nm version of the 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6, the GT-R Nismo is sold through a handful of dealers.
Earlier this year, Richard Emery, CEO of Nissan Australia, told CarAdvice the 261kW/374Nm 370Z Nismo could possibly arrive down under in 2017.
In North America, there are also Nismo variants of the Juke and Sentra, the American version of the Pulsar. Both of these cars feature lowered suspension, grippier seats and more aggressive styling, but no extra power.
Nismo versions of the Note and Micra are available in some overseas markets, although the more powerful 319kW Patrol Nismo seems to be no longer in production.
MORE: Nissan news, reviews, comparisons and videos
MORE: Everything Nismo