Nissan Altima Nismo brewing

Nissan is studying the release of Nismo-tuned models in Australia to provide a halo effect for regular models, and the first cab off the rank could be a Nismo-boosted Altima.

In late 2011 Nissan announced that Nismo (Nissan Motorsport International) would begin modifying the mainstream SUV segment, and the first Nismo-badged model to be offered to global markets is the 147kW Juke Nismo.

The funky compact SUV has been confirmed for Australian sales from July 2013, but Nissan Australia General Manager of Product Planning Philip Galway indicated to motoring.com.au that next year’s vital new Altima large sedan – which will form the basis of Nissan’s entry in the 2013 V8 Supercar series - could be the subject of a bigger Nismo push locally.

“There's potential for Nismo variants in many vehicles and many segments within the Nissan brand - there is a Nismo Juke, for example,” he said.

“Certainly with what we're doing with the V8 Supercars program and Altima, that's essentially about creating awareness and excitement for the new brand, Altima.

"Certainly as we study the opportunity for Nismo we'll look at all segments and all vehicles,” said Mr Galway.

Nissan will take on Ford and Holden with an Altima powered by a Nismo-tuned 5.0-litre V8, and a high-performance version of the Altima would be a natural rival for Australia’s two big homegrown sports sedans in FPV’s Falcon-based GT and HSV’s Commodore-based GTS.

“We see there is potential for Nismo in Australia,” stated Mr Galway, before cautioning there were “no plans I can announce today”.

“We don't have any confirmed plans I can talk about today. We're launching in the V8 Supercars with Altima, and Nismo has worked together with the V8 Supercar team to get the car onto the grid at Clipsal in March, and the current car that's running in its test livery is realising the Nismo branding."

The burning question is whether Nissan will develop a hardcore Nismo-badged V8 version of the Nissan Altima - a car that would be too expensive for Nissan Australia to develop solo, says Mr Galway.

“We haven't made announcements of what (engines) we will go to market with Altima, but certainly Altima in the US is their number one seller, and it was the biggest selling car in that market, so typically the lead market will often dictate what's available globally.

“I think if there's no V8 in the US, I think it's going to be pretty hard for Australia to bring a V8 into that platform.”

Either way, it appears to be a case of when, rather than if Nissan decides to launch the Nismo brand in Australia, and official accessories would be a natural extension of the product line, said Mr Galway.

“It would certainly make sense, if we brought a new brand, a new Nismo brand into the country and were selling a range of performance vehicles, then certainly you'd want to enhance the offering with Nismo accessories.

“It would make good business sense to do that, and I think it would be a good market opportunity for the people that want to experience Nismo on their current Nissan product.”

With Nismo’s new global headquarters in Yokohama opening early next year, Nissan will fast-track the development of upcoming Nismo-tuned vehicles.

Apart from the new Nismo Juke, there has been a Nismo edition of the Nissan 370Z offered in the USA and the GT-R is likely to come under the performance brand's microscope too.

“Certainly the Nissan brand [is about] innovation - excitement for everyone - and part of the excitement is in the product that we bring and certainly from a product planning perspective I'm looking to bring in exciting products which can excite the consumers and the public,” said Mr Galway.