GT-R hits the road

Nissan's long-awaited GT-R is on the road at last. On sale in Japan this Wednesday (Dec 6), the GT-R was launched to the world's media this week in a combined track and road program in Japan's far north.

Centred on the tight twisty and hilly Highland Raceway near Sendai, the GT-R launch was limited to just 75 international media -- around half the size of a 'usual' international launch. This number, as much as any other factor is an indicator of the halo status of the car.

The GT-R is built to take on the best from Europe and has been unofficially crowned as Japan's first supercar. Honda may argue the point, given NSX's prodigious performance when it was released in 1990, but the GT-R's stats are impressive. With close to 500hp, a 0-100km/h time under 4sec and a top speed of around 300km/h, the Nissan bludgeon easily shades the scalpel-like Honda.

Though Aussies won't see official GT-R imports until early 2009, according to Nissan Australia, domestic deliveries begin this week. Orders for the car opened at the Tokyo Show in October, with around 2900 Japanese petrolheads already signed up for one of the three version of the GT-R offered.

In Japan, the GT-R starts at Y7,770,000 with the top-of-the-range model, the GT-R Premium peaking at Y8,347,500. Local taxes add around Y1.0m to the listed price.

Orders open in the USA on January 1 at a price of $US69,950. A higher-spec GT-R model with side airbags and premium sound, etc will also be offered. First deliveries are expected mid-year.

GT-R is not only the most expensive road car the brand has launched, it is also the most exclusive. Just 1000 GT-Rs will be built each month once Nissan's production line is up to full speed. As the car is launched, Nissan has ramped up to around 700 cars per month -- all initially going to the domestic Japanese market.

The car is built at Nissan's Tochigi plant on the same line as Nissan's domestic model Skyline. Unlike the mass produced models, however, the GT-R engines are hand built. This takes place at Nissan's main engine plant at Yokohama.

This generation of GT-R is the first to be homologated internationally. Once released to key markets like the USA, the Japanese market allocation will be reduced to just 200 cars per month.

Grey import GT-Rs are expected to beat 'official' imports into Australia by close to 12 months. One of the first GT-Rs to find its way Down Under will be raced at April's Targa Tasmania under the eminently Japanese Donut King banner. Nissan Australia claims grey importers will not be able to register 'their' GT-Rs for road use.

Balancing production numbers against demand will be one of the challenges of the new car, says Nissan Global Communications chief, Simon Sproule.

"With a car like GT-R you need to build one less than you can sell," Sproule joked. "GT-R is not just one model. This car will have a six-year life, or more, so we need to be mindful of residual values," Sproule explained.

"Many GT-R customers will be walking into a Nissan dealership for the first time. We will be pulling them out of cars like 911s and we want to retain them in the long term."

Sproule also explained that the brand intended to "keep GT-R fresh".

"This [launch model] is not the end of the story. The V-Spec is coming [see separate story here]. We need to get a good appreciation of the demand for GT-R and consider our plans. Oversupply would not be good for the [GT-R] brand."

Part of Nissan's global strategy to help build GT-R customer loyalty is what program chief Mizuno describes as: "supreme after-sales care; a full-service experience". This will be achieved (at least in Japan), via the set-up of Nissan High Performance Centers (NHPC). Here specially trained technicians will service GT-Rs using GT-R specific equipment and specially-developed lubricants and parts.

A three-year free service plan is part of the GT-R package. Service intervals are time-based (every 12 months), perhaps indicating Nissan's expectation that most GT-Rs will not rack up many miles.

In large-scale markets outside of Japan (eg: USA) a network of NHPCs will likely be established. In markets like Australia, however, the plans are less clear. Nissan says it will officially announce its GT-R dealership/sales strategy closer to the car's early 2009 launch.

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