Nissan is poised to expand its line-up of high-performance Nismo models offered in the UK, including a return of sports cars and tuned versions of key mainstream machines.
The Japanese firm recently confirmed that it will launch the Ariya Nismo in Europe early next year as the electric SUV’s new performance flagship.
It will also be the first model to carry the branding in the region since the GT-R Nismo was taken off sale due to increasingly stringent emissions regulations.
The Z sports car has also never been sold in the UK because it doesn’t meet emissions regulations, but Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s global product strategy chief, confirmed to Autocar that electrification will allow such models to be sold here.
“The future interpretation of our really high-performance cars will likely be electrified, not only because of our brand direction but also because, geographically, regulations are pushing us in that direction,” he said. “It’s obviously the area we have to go [towards].”
Espinosa added: “You can also imagine a few of our key nameplates having a Nismo version, because that’s a way to bring Nismo excitement to more customers. Those are the key elements we’ll be playing with for Nismo in the future.”
