It's official: the U.S.-market GT-R will be a Nissan

[Neejay]

Finally! +123456 for Nissan. I can't wait to see these on the streets...

[nismoenthu]

Originally Posted by AkademikONE

If you honestly think the flagship vehicle of Nissan will be powered by 4-cyl B/H series Honda motors.. you don't belong driving a car.

totally agree!!!

[SochBAT]

IMHO, the GTR concept isn't all that great. As well at the 350z. They should have just revamped the older S30-31 chassis, and made it up to date with all the new dohickies and such. I still don't consider it a 'roadster'

But then again, i'm just me. Go Nissan.

[d*star180]

+654684684643516879861 for it staying a nissan! Infiniti Skyline wouldnt sound right.

[Neejay]

Originally Posted by sochbat

IMHO, the GTR concept isn't all that great. As well at the 350z. They should have just revamped the older S30-31 chassis, and made it up to date with all the new dohickies and such. I still don't consider it a 'roadster'

But then again, i'm just me. Go Nissan.

Wow, I thought I was the only one who didnt like the 350z 100%. And I kinda agree with you on updating the chassis, but nonetheless I still cant wait to see these on the streets.

[TurDz]

Originally Posted by sochbat

IMHO, the GTR concept isn't all that great. As well at the 350z. They should have just revamped the older S30-31 chassis, and made it up to date with all the new dohickies and such. I still don't consider it a 'roadster'

But then again, i'm just me. Go Nissan.

It's still too early to judge the GTR...at least performance-wise. It's still very secretive. I tried it in GT4...decent car, haha.

[ranisron]

2008.... hum... I should be making 80K by then (I better be). May be I could afford the Skyline?

GO NISSAN

[SimpleS14]

For those calling it a Skyline....well...its simply NOT a Skyline. That's what we have over here at the G35. I can rant on and on about that but meh.

Anyways, I think it would have been best to be labeled under the Infiniti brand name in the states. This is because alot of consumers tie a brand name (or badge) to the cost of the car and see it as justified or not. So far the only car I can think of that is priced significantly higher than the other models in the line-up is the Chevy Corvette. But then again that car has history in America, far more than the GT-R.

I'm glad this car is coming to the states, but I'd hate to see it face the same fate as the Volkswagen Phaeton (which is actually a nice car).

[SochBAT]

Darn, you're right.
VeeDUB Phaeton

[m072514]

Originally Posted by SimpleS14

For those calling it a Skyline....well...its simply NOT a Skyline. That's what we have over here at the G35. I can rant on and on about that but meh.

Anyways, I think it would have been best to be labeled under the Infiniti brand name in the states. This is because alot of consumers tie a brand name (or badge) to the cost of the car and see it as justified or not. So far the only car I can think of that is priced significantly higher than the other models in the line-up is the Chevy Corvette. But then again that car has history in America, far more than the GT-R.

I'm glad this car is coming to the states, but I'd hate to see it face the same fate as the Volkswagen Phaeton (which is actually a nice car).

right-O, my friend! in fact, chevrolet is considering changing the name "corvette" from a model name to its own brand... and making the different trim levels into the different "models."

what theyre trying to do is have people consider the corvette by itself and not lump it in with the aveo, cobalt, and suburban...

...alot of american rich people who are not "in the know" will not know about the GT-R's rich heritage, and the brand name is more important to them than actual performance. they will most likely lump NISSAN gt-r with NISSAN sentra and NISSAN altima, and stay away.

i like to think that's a GOOD thing...

[HyperTek]

i seriously wonder if this will be a good move for nissan..

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by m072514

...alot of american rich people who are not "in the know" will not know about the GT-R's rich heritage, and the brand name is more important to them than actual performance.

Then let them purchase Infiniti's. People who wanna drop 50k+ and are not interested in performance buy into luxury.

they will most likely lump NISSAN gt-r with NISSAN sentra and NISSAN altima, and stay away.

I disagree. Sports car enthusiasts who are looking to spend anywhere from 50K-75K generally do some research on what they are buying. I have never heard of anyone comparing their R34 GTR to a Nissan Cube, or someone hating their NSX because the same company badge is on a Civic.

Besides, Infinti is already getting a performance inspired luxury car with their new G concept.

[ALTRNTV]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

or someone hating their NSX because the same company badge is on a Civic.

Word.

Nissan GT-R. Just like it should be.

[kouki_s14]

who thinks i should sell my car for this thing?
i wish...........

[SimpleS14]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

someone hating their NSX because the same company badge is on a Civic.

The car never made it to the states under the Honda badge. Furthermore, i think the next NSX will be under the Acura badge and Lexus will get their own supercar.

But either way, we just have to wait and see what happens. I just hope this is a good move for Nissan, I mean...how many bad moves did they make in the past five years? I can only think of the first Quest and the "tooth" grill.

Maybe this can help to push Nissan more upscale or just focus on sport rather than luxury on the GT-R. But then again....why would your main target be the Porsche 911 Turbo and lack luxury. :/

BAH....whatever...I know I'm going to still buy one.

[exitspeed]

Simple14 I see were your coming from and I understaned the American market as far as badging and that goes. The Pheaton (sp) failed 100% because people didn't want to plop down that much money for a VW.

This is fell is slightly different. Though the GTR name is mostly nown by the younger generation here in the states I feel Nissan will do a good job exploiting their racing haritage with cars like the Z for their advertisement's here. I really don't think think that people will think that it's too expensive for what it is. If it was a 300hp $50,000 car that would be one thing. But it's going to be 500hp+ TT, AWD. I don't think their going to have a hard time convincing buyers (that CAN afford it) that it 's a great alternative to the countless Vett's etc that are ont he road.

And i like to reiterate what I said in a previous post. I fell this is a good point.

"I think you hit the nail on the head. The GTR is first and foremost a true firebreathing sports car. it's not a luxury car by any stretch of the imagination. If it was brought here as an Infiniti, buyers may have a misconception that it's going to have heated seats, automatic climate control, room for more then one prostitute etc. So your right. They can focus on what's important with the GTR. Hopefully this can change the image of Nissan all together. I know that's what their thinking."

[Yuri]

I know this probably doesn't make sense to a lot of you, but I had mostly lost interest in the GT-R when I heard that it would be badged as an Infiniti. All I could think is "oh great here's another great car that rocks overseas but is getting comprimised by focus groups of fat-assed americans who don't enjoy driving." As mentioned before, the GTR is a sports car, not a luxury sport tourer. As such I was looking forward to destroying old white guys in their Infiniti GTRs as they fumbled around their golf clubs attempting to find their gear selector, while I pulled away through the corners in my Evo. But now that the GTR is staying truer to its roots, I might end up trading the evo in on a GTR (probably after its been out for a year).
It's amazing how a simple name change can affect things.....

In related news, did anyone hear that VW is changing the name of the Golf back to Rabbit?

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by impactred

I know this probably doesn't make sense to a lot of you, but I had mostly lost interest in the GT-R when I heard that it would be badged as an Infiniti. All I could think is "oh great here's another great car that rocks overseas but is getting comprimised by focus groups of fat-assed americans who don't enjoy driving." As mentioned before, the GTR is a sports car, not a luxury sport tourer. As such I was looking forward to destroying old white guys in their Infiniti GTRs as they fumbled around their golf clubs attempting to find their gear selector, while I pulled away through the corners in my Evo. But now that the GTR is staying truer to its roots, I might end up trading the evo in on a GTR (probably after its been out for a year).
It's amazing how a simple name change can affect things.....

In related news, did anyone hear that VW is changing the name of the Golf back to Rabbit?

Looks like were on the same page...

And yea I heard about the Rabbit name change. I think that should work out well for them actually.

[ThatGuy]

Well "The Fast" is a Rabbit, so why not change the name back with the same advertising campaign.

GT-R should be a Nissan. It'd be like a Ponitac Corvette if not.

[xtheenderx]

i say screw the gtr and the z's just come out with a US s15 chassis with a turboed KA24DET! lol j/k

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

GT-R should be a Nissan. It'd be like a Ponitac Corvette if not.

Actually it would be like a Cadillac Corvette. Luxury brand...

[OptionZero]

forget the semantics and what it should be based on histrionics

this car needs to be a seller

where do people buy Infiniti's? At infiniti dealerships
where do people buy Nissans? at Nissan dealerships

presumably there's a difference in quality of service, simply because the clientele is different

would most americans feel comfortable walking into a nissan dealership to buy a GTR for 60k when its the same place where kids go to buy their Sentras? same service place, parts dealer, etc?

[ThatGuy]

I thought about posting that, but isn't XLR-V actually a Cadillac "Corvette"?

[OJmobileII]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

I thought about posting that, but isn't XLR-V actually a Cadillac "Corvette"?

its built on a modified c6 chassis and shares some components. but the xlr-v has a 4.4l s/c dohc northstar. not an ls2 or ls7.

would most americans feel comfortable walking into a nissan dealership to buy a GTR for 60k when its the same place where kids go to buy their Sentras? same service place, parts dealer, etc?

people have been buying vettes from the same chevy dealers that people use to buy cavaliers and now buy cobalts. but then again, people r familiar w/ vette.

it is a risk to put the gt-r in a nissan show room, but w/ the way nissan's recently lineup overhaul... i'm sure it will have a better result than when the phaeton was badged a vw.

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

I thought about posting that, but isn't XLR-V actually a Cadillac "Corvette"?

Somewhat. It shares suspension compnents mostly. The rest is different, especially the engine.


OtpionZero...

American's feel comfortable walking into dealers and paying $60k for a New Z06 when they are selling a Cobalt or even worse...and HHR and GM being near bankruptcy.

Or Dodge with a Viper that has a POS Intrepid on the lot.

It's a lil different cause their American brands, but not entirely. Nissan has a sporty presence in America. I don't think it will be an issue. We'll see though. Can't WAIT

[OptionZero]

the corvette is an american institution

the GTR is an unknown quantity to the people with 60k; the only people who know who it is are the kids who play GT

i think this is a poor BUSINESS decision

whats the point of having infiniti if not to sell 60k nissans

[m072514]

Originally Posted by OptionZero

the corvette is an american institution

the GTR is an unknown quantity to the people with 60k; the only people who know who it is are the kids who play GT

i think this is a poor BUSINESS decision

whats the point of having infiniti if not to sell 60k nissans

exactly... besides, the name is less of an issue than saleability. only the gran turismo generation knows what the hell a silvia, fairlady, or skyline is. the people who play gran turismo USUALLY dont have the kind of cheddar to be buying a GT-R... i think its a good idea from a PERFORMANCE perspective to name it nissan, but bad business-wise.

either way, i hope it will be badass.

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by OptionZero

the corvette is an american institution

the GTR is an unknown quantity to the people with 60k; the only people who know who it is are the kids who play GT

i think this is a poor BUSINESS decision

whats the point of having infiniti if not to sell 60k nissans

I wih some big wig from nissan would come on here and give some insite everyone and a while.


I don't think it's a poor business dicision. Like I said we'll all just have to wait and see.

[OptionZero]

Originally Posted by exitspeed

I wih some big wig from nissan would come on here and give some insite everyone and a while.


I don't think it's a poor business dicision. Like I said we'll all just have to wait and see.

The reasons i've heard for putting a nissan badge have been "but it's SUPPOSED to be a nissan" or " it's ALWAYS been a nissan"

None of those reasons have any weight from a business perspective in the U.S.

Nissan USA has built a sport reputation on the Z; THAT has heritage, THAT has pomp and circumstance.

The GTR would come in ABOVE the Z.
This undercuts both the purpose of Infiniti and the status of the Z.

You're not losing any customers by making the GTR an infinity because the people who care are the fanboys who aren't going to buy it.

You MAY, however, lose customers by making the GTR a nissan because the American public that DOES buy 60k cars places value on badge and dealer experience.

The guy that decided this might as well be the guy who styled the b15 sentra's ass.

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by OptionZero

The reasons i've heard for putting a nissan badge have been "but it's SUPPOSED to be a nissan" or " it's ALWAYS been a nissan"

None of those reasons have any weight from a business perspective in the U.S.

Nissan USA has built a sport reputation on the Z; THAT has heritage, THAT has pomp and circumstance.

The GTR would come in ABOVE the Z.
This undercuts both the purpose of Infiniti and the status of the Z.

You're not losing any customers by making the GTR an infinity because the people who care are the fanboys who aren't going to buy it.

You MAY, however, lose customers by making the GTR a nissan because the American public that DOES buy 60k cars places value on badge and dealer experience.

The guy that decided this might as well be the guy who styled the b15 sentra's ass.

Only time will tell...