The veil has finally been lifted off Nissan’s much-anticipated GT-R sports coupe. Nissan’s high-performance vehicle is expected to boost the manufacturer’s sagging car sales and help it compete against rivals at home and overseas.
Digital Journal — At the Tokyo Motor Show today, Nissan’s answer to the Corvette made a grand appearance and wowed muscle car aficionados. The GT-R attracted an excitable crowd at the showcase, and not only because of its sleek look. The specs were finally released: 3.8-litre twin turbo V6 engine to power the 480-horsepower car, along with 434 pounds-feet of torque starting at 3,200 rpm.
It will debut in Japan in December, and will land in showrooms in the U.S. in June 2008.
Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn has high hopes for this remodeled cult classic, telling reporters at the Motor Show:
This car is going to do a lot of good for Nissan… I’m not worried at all about sales.
The GT-R’s price should help boost sales, since $68,000 is respectable compared to other high-performance vehicles like the Porsche 911, retailing for $122,000. USA Today offered other strong points that should help GT-R sales move briskly:
All-wheel drive is standard, spreading the power among four tires instead of between just two to help keep the car stable during hard acceleration. Nissan expects it will jump from a standstill to 60 mph in well under four seconds, as quick as some motorcycles.
Nissan is counting on the GT-R to boost sales and polish its brand. As Japan’s third-largest car manufacturer, it trails behind domestic rivals Honda and Toyota. Also, previous version of this hot rod weren’t sold in the U.S because Nissan believed it was too small for American tastes and it was too difficult to reconfigure to meet U.S. anti-pollution regulations.
But that’s all about to change with the GT-R. Nissan will be marketing the roadster in North America more intensely than with previous versions. It’s expected the GT-R will excite auto enthusiasts in the U.S. as much as it did in Japan today. If the sports coupe does indeed make an impact on the North American car market, Nissan will be proving it can compete with an American icon like the epic Corvette.
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