Nismo enters a new era

Nissan made Nismo its exclusive performance car and motorsports brand at its new global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. CEO Carlos Ghosn declared the building open at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday.

Even though Nismo has been tuning cars for Nissan for almost 50 years, its first true production car didn't hit the streets until the Nissan Skyline 2000GT. Nismo (Nissan Motorsports) was finally incorporated in 1984. Currently its cars can be bought in Europe, Japan and the United States, and tested on PlayStation's “Gran Turismo 5.”

The first new product to come out of the Nismo factory is the Juke Nismo, which will hit our streets in the spring. A revised 2014 370Z Nismo is set for sale this summer. The company also promises more Nismo models, encompassing its entire model range. That of course, includes the Nissan GT-R.

“It would be unthinkable for us to develop a range of Nismo road cars without including the GT-R,” said Ghosn. “The standard production model is a global supercar and the GT-R's performance on track reflects the passion and talents of the Nismo team. The GT-R Nismo will be special, and I can't wait to drive it.”

The 2014 Nissan GT-R street car has gleaned performance from its racing experience at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring and its success in the Super GT series. The Nismo GT-R will perform at an even higher level.

Nissan says it invested in the facility to give it the ability to expand to performance road cars in addition to motorsports. The new headquarters allows the Nismo team to be in one place, with space for engine work, fabrication, grinding and carbon composite processes. The building also has a retail area that's twice the size of the previous spot in Omori, Japan

Nissan

By Jake Lingeman