The Nissan GT-R is no longer offered in France. After 15 years of career, the Japanese sportswoman remains available in certain countries but is gradually withdrawing from the market, territory by territory. A new generation seems to be emerging but still remains very mysterious.
In the catalog since 2007, the Nissan GT-R type R35, “Godzilla” for friends, seemed unshakeable, enduring despite ever more restrictive environmental regulations, increasingly murderous taxation in certain markets, starting with France, and a competition gradually equaling this “supercar killer” which for a long time was the only one to offer such performance in this price range. A price, which, by the way, has also increased significantly over the years. But the super-sportswoman of the Rising Sun now arrives at the end of her life and is gradually leaving the market, country after country. It is no longer available in France now. The new Z should not be marketed in Europe, Nissan no longer offers any sports in our regions.
A gradual disappearance
Australia was the first place the sixth-generation GT-R bowed out last fall, with the special-edition T-Spec and Nismo SV announced as the model’s final iterations there. Japan and the United States were also entitled to the T-Spec, but for the time being the standard versions are still offered there, as in Canada in particular. In France, as with some of our neighbors (Spain, Italy, Switzerland, etc.), the R35 bowed out much more discreetly at the start of 2022. Suffering from an ecological penalty of €30,000 in 2021 in France, the Nissan GT-R had sold only four copies there, a drop of 64% compared to a year 2020 already marked by business interruptions linked to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2022, the GT-R’s CO2 tax has risen to €40,000, or 36% of the price of the “base” model displayed at €111,000.
53 years of Nissan GT-R
In 2020, France was still entitled to four copies of the special series “50th anniversary” of the Nissan GT-R. Because it has now been more than five decades since the coupe, formerly called Skyline GT-R and offered as a sedan in its very beginnings, has been giving a hard time to sports cars from more prestigious brands. From the original 2000 GT-R of 1969 to the R33 of 1995, the reputation of the model outside of Japan had however remained confidential, especially since the second generation launched in 1973 did not last long due to the oil crisis. The technical base of the 1989 R32 was used until the 1999 R34, when the Skyline GT-R gained international fame thanks to the Gran Turismo video games before appearing in the cinema in the Fast And Furious saga. The R35 is the first Nissan GT-R to have been officially marketed in France.
When will the Nissan GT-R R36?
Between the electrification imposed by the regulations, the concentration of the manufacturers on their most profitable models in order to absorb the cost of this one, and the financial difficulties of Nissan, difficult to predict when the next GT-R will arrive and what at what it will look like. But according to Adam Paterson, managing director of Nissan in Australia, an R36 is well under development. ” This is not the end of the GT-R story in Australia, but it will mark the closing of this chapter for this generation of vehicle. “, he announced at the launch of the GT-R T-Spec and Nismo SV. Godzilla will return.
TO READ. Nissan Z (2022). The Japanese coupe goes from prototype to series
