Nissan GT-R and Alpine A110 to be axed

The Nissan GT-R and Alpine A110 will be discontinued in Australia later this year due to new federal side-impact crash test regulations.

As we’ve reported, the new automotive design rule known as ADR 85 comes into force in Australia on November 1, 2021 (November 2022 for light commercial vehicles with a sub-3500kg GVM).

The new Pole Side Impact Performance regulation has already sounded the death knell for the Mitsubishi Mirage and Lexus IS, RC and CT.

And while the Toyota 70 Series will likely bring a GVM upgrade to escape the stricter new side-impact requirements, they will see both the Volkswagen Amarok and Skoda Fabia become unavailable for several months until replacements arrive.

Nissan Australia is expected to soon confirm the local release of a final batch of MY22 Nissan GT-R vehicles – including the new T-spec limited-editions – but has confirmed the discontinuation of the current GT-R beyond that.

“Due to the implementation of Australia’s unique pole side impact design rules (ADR 85), the Nissan GT-R will not be imported into the Australian market after October 31, 2021,” the company said in a statement.

Unlike other parts of the world that will continue to sell the GT-R, Australia will miss out on the 522kW mild-hybrid swansong for the R35 reportedly being developed.

We could still see it if the ‘new’ R36 based on the current model’s platform turns up in 2023, as some Japanese reports suggest, however the R36 might also roll out as an all-new, all-electric model in the second half of this decade.

Nissan Australia has sold 937 examples of the current R35 GT-R since its local launch in April 2009, including just 19 so far in 2021.

Meantime, the axing of the Alpine A110, which has found just 83 Australian homes since its local launch in September 2018, will spell the end of Renault’s sports car brand Down Under for now.

Now representing the French car-maker in Formula 1 and set to replace Renault Sport as its performance car brand, Alpine announced in July that it will release three all-electric models from 2024.

Neither the small hot hatch, the mid-size SUV nor the sports car Alpine is developing with Lotus have yet been confirmed for Australia, where the A110 was Alpine’s sole model.

Renault Australia general manager Glen Sealey confirmed the imminent demise of the Alpine A110 – which lacks side airbags – as a result of ADR 85, which was developed with Transport Canada and aligns with Europe’s upcoming ECE135 standard but was fast-tracked by Australian regulators despite protests by the local auto industry.

“Alpine will be dropped from the line-up as a direct result of the [ADR 85] regulation,” he said in a statement.

“ADR 85 reflects a regulation that is not being adopted globally at this point in time. This adds further complexity to production for a country that represents approximately one per cent of the global market and already has unique design regulations required for the market.

“In short, it adds expense to cars that must be engineered specifically for the Australian market and rules out a number of models that should be here,” said Sealey.