Nismo still no-go for Australia

Australians will have to wait in line for Nismo-enhanced models, as Nissan’s performance arm focuses its attentions elsewhere.

Speaking at the Nissan 360 event in the US this week, Nismo’s business manager Shino Matsushima told media that Europe, Russia, Japan and the US were the main focus of the tuning division’s expansion targets, most especially with the strong-selling Juke SUV.

“There will be a range of vehicles in Nissan showrooms that benefit from the Nismo touch,” Matsushim said.

“Last year, we successfully launched Juke Nismo in Europe including Russia, Japan and the US. A higher-performance Juke Nismo RS is also planned.”

Matsushima said Nismo was looking to target not just performance enthusiasts, or “performance seekers” as it refers to them, but also those keen on personalising their vehicles through Nismo’s range of “performance and advanced technology” parts, or “highlife seekers”.

“Our brand strategy for Nismo is unique because it is based on creating the total balance of design, technology and performance,” said Matsushima.

“This is the space where Nismo lives and the proof point for Nissan’s commitment to our customers ‘Innovation that Excites for Everyone’.”

Nismo, short for Nissan Motorsports International, has been modifying both the performance and styling of Nissan vehicles since 1964, when what it describes as “a handful of passionate engineers” took a 2.0-litre engine from a large luxury car and squeezed it into the smaller Skyline sedan.

The small performance shop has recently spawned several Nismo-enhanced models globally, including versions of the LEAF, Juke, 370Z, and even the March (sold here as Micra).

Matsushima said that for the Malaysian market, a Nismo version of the Micra-based Almera sedan was also under consideration.

“While new Nismo models like the Juke Nismo and 370Z Nismo have been in the spotlight lately, this heritage has been part of Nissan’s core brand philosophy for nearly 50 years,” Matsushima reiterated.

“With the launch of the Juke Nismo last year, we embarked on a journey to widen our customer target. Our goal is to inject that Nismo DNA into our road cars and make them accessible to our customers.”

That is unless they live in Australia, it seems. To date, the Nismo brand has been absent from local Nissan showrooms, its performance and customisation parts restricted to the domain of aftermarket importers.

According to Nissan Australia General Manager of Communications, Peter Fadeyev, Nismo is about getting the right product blend at the right time.

“Australia certainly has an appetite for performance-oriented automotive sub-brands,” noted Fadeyev.

“Nismo is under consideration for Australia but we are some way off from having any timeframe for a local market implementation. It remains a work in progress for Nissan Australia.”

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