Nissan has confirmed that’s its performance and motorsport arm, NISMO, will be making its official entrance into the Australian market onwards from 2017.
“NISMO is an exciting addition to our Australian business,” said Nissan Motor Co. (Australia) Managing Director and CEO Richard Emery. “The NISMO brand is already well known in Australia through its heritage and motorsport success. It is great news that Australia will now have access to NISMO products, starting with the mighty GT-R NISMO.”
The launch will coincide with the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour GT3 race at the Mount Panorama circuit, a race that the factory team fielded the GT-R NISMO GT3 and took victory last year in 2015 but lost to the McLaren 650S GT3 this year.
Of course, the most obvious impact the entrance of NISMO to the local scene is the premiere of the 2017 Nissan GT-R NISMO, a motorsport-tuned version of the venerable new R35 GT-R with a shared technology from the GT3 racer, producing 441kW and 652Nm from its 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 engine.
Nissan plans to offer the first batch of cars via exclusive pre-order to the loyal GT-R owners. A launch is set for February 2017 where the GT-R NISMO will be priced at $299,00 plus on-road costs and dealer delivery.
It is expected that official NISMO accessories and performance components will also be sold through official channels shortly following the launch of the Nissan performance brand’s Aussie arrival.
NISMO got its start when Nissan grouped its two motorsport divisions, Omori Works and Oppama Works, in the mid 1980s under one roof and central brand. Since then, the outfit has been responsible for Nissan’s impressive rise to motorsport success and known as of the main performance car brands of Japan, if not the most prolific.
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