Nissan Claims Next-Gen GT-R Won’t Be Half-Hearted Afterthought

by Carl Malek | June 10, 2024

Nissan claims that next generation GT-R will be poised for a comeback and not be a half-hearted project.

A new report says the next-generation GT-R will be a more focused and potent performance vehicle

The current generation GT-R first made its debut back in 2007 with the powerful two-door previewing a future that was supposed to involve a renewed emphasis on performance. Unfortunately, Nissan chose to make the GT-R a relic of the past and while it has attempted to hide the wrinkles of age with strategically placed refreshes, there’s no denying that the sports car is rapidly aging in the face of rivals.

This attempt at shaking the past will play a key role in the next generation GT-R and while the company is still not releasing any information about the model just yet, a new report appears to reveal that Nissan execs are taking the project very seriously and will ensure that buyers will get an offering that lives up to the badge while perhaps avoiding being caught in a temporal holding pattern like its predecessor.

Nissan is not holding back

Next-generation GT-R could benefit from advanced EV tech including solid-state batteries.

In an interview with Drive magazine, Nissan’s Vice-President Francois Bailly promised that the automaker “would not do a half-baked GT-R. That’s not the intention.” Bailly elaborated further stating that the company is not only committed to the sports car market but that he didn’t get the job at the company just to build a minivan.

While Bailly’s confidence is something to be admired, it still doesn’t change the fact that the next-generation model (dubbed R36) is not going to be appearing anytime soon. Nissan execs in the past have stated that while the company is making progress with its EV technology, it’s not ready yet to be put into a wild application like this. A key building block of this is the company’s solid-state batteries which offer improved range and capacity but are not scheduled to be rolled out until the 2028 model year.

GT-R is chasing perfection

Perfection appears to be a prominent goal for Nissan and engineers working on the project

Nissan’s careful approach to this model is part of a broader development strategy with the company using as much time as it needs to ensure that the model would be able to deliver what customers want the most. Nissan execs confirmed that the company will begin testing of a vehicle equipped with solid-state batteries in 2026 before a production model appears in 2028. The first model to lead the charge will be a “Japanese-produced vehicle” but it’s not known what the name of that particular model will be. If the spearhead model is indeed the GT-R, look for it to get the bulk of its styling inspiration from the 2023 “Hyper Force” concept.

The Hyper Force applied sci-fi futurism into the GT-R’s core formula and we suspect that a production version will use alot of the design language here albeit with some of these characteristics toned down for the sake of production and complying with safety regulations. That said, it would be a welcome improvement over the aging lines that define the current generation model.

Is time running out for the gasoline-powered model?

Rumors swirl as the current generation model continues to linger in Nissan showrooms

In the meantime, time is possibly running out for the current generation GT-R. A separate report by the Japanese publication MAG-X in March said that 2025 will be the final year of production for the GT-R with Nissan possibly commissioning a limited production run of models to help send the current model off into retirement. While the validity of this report has not been confirmed by Nissan, sales of the GT-R still continue to make an appearance in the firm’s broader sales charts. In the United States, sales of the GT-R rose by 584% for the 2023 model year. While that might seem like a dramatic increase at first glance, a closer look at the math translates that high percentage to 390 vehicles that found homes. That’s a noticeable increase when compared to 2022 when only 57 examples were sold to customers.