Nissan Z And GT-R Will Get Replacements And They’ll Probably Be Electrified

We’ve known for a while that Nissan is mulling with the idea of electrifying their next-gen sports cars, and now one of the company’s officials has offered us some hints about that.

The plan is part of Nissan’s strategy to offer approximately 40 percent of their vehicles with electrified powertrains in Europe by 2022, and that includes the replacements of the 370Z and GT-R.

“I don’t see electrification and sports cars as technologies that are conflicting. Maybe it’s the other way around, sports cars can benefit lots from electrification”, Jean-Pierre Diernaz, of the car firm’s marketing chiefs, told Top Gear. “At the end of the day, a motor and battery are much easier to move from one platform to another, from one sub-segment to another, than a full internal combustion set-up.”

Also Read: Nissan Design Exec Hard At Work On Next-Gen Z-Model

Despite pressure from other vehicles within the sports car segment, such as the upcoming Toyota Supra, the future of the Nissan 370Z is still hazy. The question is not ‘if’ it will arrive, but rather ‘when’, as Diernaz described it as a work in progress:. “Not everything is confirmed in terms of dates. Sports cars are part of who we are, so one way or another they have to be there.”

Helping Nissan in achieving their electrified goals for road-going vehicles will be some of their Formula E technologies, as well as their Renault, Mitsubishi and Mercedes-Benz partners. The companies already share some technologies and powertrains in between them, and the tie-ups will likely continue into the electrified era.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the successor of the current GT-R will share some oily bits with future AMGs, because that’s not going to happen. Instead, Nissan will develop its new supercar all by itself.

“GT-R is GT-R. That’s Nissan. It has to stay specifically Nissan”, commented Diernaz.

We couldn’t agree more. Just hoping that they make up their minds because the R35, as good as it may be and despite all the constant upgrades, is basically an 11-year old car.