The NISMO performance brand will build hot Nissan road cars, it has been revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show.
The move will see mainstream Nissan models become much more exciting to look at and more fun to drive – and the company has taken the wraps off its first product, the Juke Nismo Concept.
“Nismo adds even more excitement and innovation to Nissan products. We now plan to inject that style and excitement into other models in the Nissan range,” says Shoichi Miyatani, president of NISMO.
NISMO is similar in concept to BMW’s M division and Ford’s Team RS. The NISMO name is derived from Nissan Motorsports International Co and the company was established back in 1984 to build racing cars.
It has also produced a range of sporty components for markets outside of the UK and Europe, but until now the only NISMO upgrade brought here was a special bodykit for the 350Z.
Now that expertise will be applied to whole range of Nissan cars, set to include the 370Z and GT-R, but first is this Juke. It gets a special NISMO colour scheme of pearl white with red highlights and a bodykit. Underneath the skin is a sports suspension set-up and a more powerful 1.6-litre direct injection turbo engine rumoured to have around 200bhp.
There is no official word on when the Juke NISMO will go on sale in the UK, but a source said “it’s likely that you will see such a product next year.”
In 2011, Nismo-developed Nissan GT-R racecars won the Drivers’ and Team titles in Japan’s SUPER GT championship and also took the Drivers’ title in the FIA GT1 World Championship.
Nismo-developed engines won their class in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the company has also developed the LEAF Nismo RC, the world’s first all-electric racing car.
“Nismo has carved out an enviable reputation in motor racing,” said Carlos Ghosn, Nissan president and CEO. “In fact, in 2011, Nismo cars and engines won in every category they competed in… the first time we have achieved this milestone.
“The time is now right to let ordinary drivers experience what our racing drivers enjoy every time they head out onto the track. We aim to bring Nismo’s passion and focus on driving excitement to mainstream models, and the Juke Nismo Concept shows what we can do,” said Mr Ghosn.
As well as producing complete performance versions of Nissan models such as the new Juke, Nissan is planning to expand its range of performance parts and accessories.
Nissan is also relocating NISMO to an all-new purpose designed global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan at the start of 2013. This will bring all all of NISMO’s activities under one roof. Nissan says it wants to create a ‘a global centre of excellence for race and performance road car development’.
As well as building racing cars, the centre will perform servicing, have a heritage area and a specialist store – the Omori Factory, named after NISMO’s current base – where customers can buy performance parts and items from the Nismo Collection.
The larger site will also have space to hold more NISMO events for fans. The annual Nismo Festival, held at the Fuji Speedway, attracts more than 30,000 fans.
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