Drive.com
Nissan Australia reveals pricing and specifications for the next-generation 'Godzilla' - the new GT-R supercar that goes on sale locally in April 2009. By JEZ SPINKS.
The ‘official’ Nissan GT-R will go on sale in Australia in April 2009, priced from $148,800.
Drive last week tested an imported ‘grey’ version of the new-generation supercar in an exclusive Australian comparison with the rival Porsche 911 Turbo, but the Japanese car maker has today announced pricing and specifications for the models it will officially launch early next year.
Nissan will offer two versions of its new flagship model, which buyers can order from October 9th – the first day of the 2008 Sydney motor show. An ‘entry-level’ $148,800 model is joined by a Premium variant costing $152,800.
Standard features for the Australian-spec GT-R include heated, electrically adjustable front seats, leather steering wheel, keyless entry, electronically adjustable suspension, 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped in (nitrogen-filled) Dunlop SP Sport rubber, and six airbags.
The GT-R Premium replaces the Dunlops with Bridgestone Potenza run-flat tyres and adds an 11-speaker Bose audio with 30GB hard drive as well as black leather front sports seats.
Only 11 Nissan dealerships nationwide will sell the GT-R, each selected by the company to become a Nissan High Performance Centre. Nissan Australia expects to sell 200 GT-Rs in 2009, but admits that it is supply constrained because of global demand for the new supercar.
Queensland has the most High Performance Centres with three (Moorooka, Southport, Mackay), with two each for NSW (Campbelltown, Brookvale), Victoria (Ferntree Gully, Werribee), and Western Australia (Melville, Wangara). South Australia (Nailsworth) and Tasmania (Hobart) feature one each.
Nissan Australia boss Dan Thompson says the company will only look after GT-Rs purchased officially from these High Performance Centres.
“All along we’ve been encouraging our potential GT-R customers to register interest with us or an accredited Nissan dealer," says Thompson. “Our policy remains the same that we will not be supporting grey imports with either warranty or servicing. These cars remain outside our scope and therefore outside our legal scope or customer responsibility.
"Purchases from our High Performance Centres will receive top-notch factory support, genuine parts, and a customer experience that’s unparalleled."
Thompson describes opening the local books on the new GT-R as "an exciting moment for Nissan Australia ", one that will kickstart an exciting future for the brand.
"The GT-R returns after a very long time out of the market - 16 years, in fact," says Thompson. "Remember, Nissan Motor Australia [as the company was known back then] was the only subsidiary within the Nissan Group that sold the GT-R outside of Japan.
"So we definitely play an important role in the GT-R legacy within the company.
"The GT-R is another exciting step in our exciting future. We have 16 new models scheduled to launch over the next four years in Australia. Later in 2009, for example, we’ll have the next-generation Z, which was basically the icon of our revival many years ago."
Nissan Australia says the company has no plans to import a more powerful, race-specification GT-R that's expected to carry the V-spec badge.