Yes, Please: Nissan to Expand NISMO Road Car Lineup
There was time during the early 1990s when Nissan ruled the performance car world. Whether it was the supercar-beating Skyline GT-R, the rear-drive Silvia, muscular 300ZX, the budget-friendly Sentra SE-R or any other number of exciting models, in the eyes of enthusiasts it felt like the company could do no wrong. These days that's not quite the case.
Yes, the GT-R is still a world-beater, and the aging 370Z is still a decent drive, but for the most part today's Nissan seems much more focused on crossover SUVs and basic transportation then on cars that get an enthusiast's heart racing. But there's a chance that could be changing.
This week Nissan announced it has established a new business unit to grow its NISMO road car lineup in markets across the world. While this doesn't necessarily mean we'll see all new performance-oriented models from Nissan, it does mean we should at least be seeing more high performance NISMO versions of existing Nissans.
Here in the U.S. we've already seen a taste of this with the new turbocharged Sentra NISMO. It might not be the GTI or Focus ST killer that some were hoping for, but it's certainly a step in the right direction as it joins existing NISMO versions of the GT-R, 370Z and JUKE SUV.
Time will tell what exactly this means for car enthusiasts and longtime Nissan fans, but it's a welcome development. We can't help but think the perfect way to kickstart the NISMO global takeover would be to revive the canceled NISMO IDx Concept we were all teased with a few years back.
