Nissan backtracks and rules out the possibility of the new GT-R being electric

The GT-R is Nissan's flagship model, a high-performance sports car capable of competing with many Ferrari, Lamborghini or McLaren models at a much lower price thanks to its 570 hp V6 engine, which in Some special editions reached over 600 hp. power, and in its all-wheel drive system. The spectacular Nissan GT-R stopped selling in Europe in 2022 due to the restrictive European regulations on noise pollution, which will mean that starting next year, no new vehicle will be able to exceed the 68 dB threshold if they want to be approved for European markets. This will force sports car manufacturers to look for new solutions to adjust the noise of their engines and exhaust pipes.

The Japanese brand has been working on a replacement for its flagship car for several years now. The car has remained on the market without any significant changes since 2007, making it one of the most veteran sports cars in history. It's no secret that Nissan is going through a rough patch, with liquidity and viability problems and in the midst of a merger with Honda, and that this reality is hampering the investments necessary to develop a new generation of the GT-R. Furthermore, the model doesn't generate the profit margin or sales volume necessary to justify such a priority action, especially in a very difficult economic climate for the brand, which has meant the announcement of mass layoffs.

This week, coinciding with the opening of the New York Auto Show, Nissan's head of planning in the United States, Ponz Pandikuthira, said in an interview to The Drive that the new GT-R, known by the internal code R36, will hit the market in the not-too-distant future "between three to five years." She said it would use a combustion engine associated with an electric motor, which leaves behind the idea of a new all-electric GT-R. Pandikuthira assured that the plug-in hybrid layout is suitable for most cars, "but not so much for a sports car that also needs to be able to show performance on the track." The Nissan executive justifies the need for a combustion-engined sports car, stating that "a sports car that completes a lap or two on a demanding and long circuit like the Nürburgring would have to stop" to charge the batteries, which would make it impractical and "unrealistic."

Nissan's current plan is to maintain the V6 engine (or V-six, if you prefer) with a similar displacement and engine size to the current one, and with a turbocharger to increase power while adjusting to the new emissions and noise regulations. According to Pandikuthira in the interview, the new GT-R will benefit from the merger with Honda, since "the new Nissan GT-R and the future Honda NSX could be developed in parallel." At this point, it's worth remembering that the Honda (or Acura in the US market) NSX is the brand's flagship sports car, and that the current model already uses a hybrid propulsion system.