Nissan has traditionally enjoyed a strong following among performance enthusiasts – a following that only grows with the addition of each new Nismo model variant.
Now the Japanese automaker is planning on expanding its performance line with new models in more markets.
To that end, Nissan has announced a new Nismo Cars Business Unit, which will focus on expanding Nismo’s volume beyond the 15,000 vehicles it currently produces each year.
“As a Nissan sub-brand, NISMO further builds upon the core values of Nissan cars,” said Nismo chief Takao Katagiri. “With the combined expertise of Nissan group companies, NISMO road cars will make customers enjoy Nissan cars more than ever.”
The Nismo treatment is currently applied to the GT-R, 370Z, Juke, and Sentra – plus the (Versa) Note and Patrol sport-ute in other markets. There’s no word as of yet as to which models could get a performance makeover next, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see sedans like the Altima and Maxima, and crossovers like the Rogue and Murano get treated next. The Euro-market Pulsar could be on the docket as well, and pickup trucks wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, either.
A more potent Sentra Nismo RS could be in store as well in similar fashion to the Juke RS. But we’re just speculating at this point. Whichever way you look at it, though, the prospect of more performance models sounds good to us, in whatever form they take.
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