William Maley
Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com
June 30, 2012
From the "Wait, What?!" department comes a report from Inside Line that says the next generation GT-R hasn't been approved.
A source reveals that Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn hasn't given the green light to begin work on the next GT-R. More worryingly, the source says that Ghosn might not give it go ahead at all.
A possible reason as to why Ghosn might not give the green light is in this tidbit from the report,
"Ghosn approved the original GT-R only after being assured that it would make money for the company even at low volumes. Since its introduction, GT-R sales in the United States have added up to just 5,914 units and they have slowed recently to just 583 this year."
Most likely the GT-R isn't making enough profit to meet expectations. Part of that could come from the price increase that has happen since the GT-R was launched in 2008.
- 2008: $69,850 (Base); $71,900 (Premium)
- 2009: $76,840 (Base); $79,090 (Premium)
- 2010: $80,790 (Base); $83,040 (Premium)
- 2011: $84,060 (Premium)
- 2012: $90,950 (Premium)
- 2013: $96,820 (Premium)
*2011 saw the base GT-R dropped*
Yes, Nissan has been improving the GT-R every year or so (2013 model sees a increase of 15 for both HP and torque; 545 HP and 463 lb-ft of torque. 0-60 time of 2.7 seconds.), but in the crowded field of sports cars, having numbers like those isn't enough.
A couple other items to take into consideration: in 2009 Ghosn was a champion of the GT-R project. Now, he is the champion of the Leaf EV, something that is way on the other side of the spectrum. Also, chief engineer of the GT-R Kazutoshi Mizuno, recently retired.
Previously, rumors had the next generation GT-R to appear sometime in 2014. Horsepower was expected to be around 600 HP and possibly use a hybrid powertrain. Now, the GT-R is up in the air.
Source: Inside Line
William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.
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