At least thats what Carlos Ghosn says in an interview yesterday, and he seems to have some sway around Nissan. The GTR should be ready for retail in early '07 Badged AS A NISSAN.

This doesnt make any sence to me seeing as how Nissan dealerships are going to have a fun time selling a $60-80k supercar. Especially working on one. Nissan facilities and dealerships are not generaly set up to handle the higher-end customer base and thats going to be attracted to this car. Thats what Infiniti has been striving for for the last 4 years.

Well, im am biased. . .I really wanted to drive one too.

Just to let you know.

Joe

 

good on ya joe

 

It should have always been a Nissan badged car. The Skyline has been Nissan ever since it changed from Prince in the mid 50's. To lux it out like an Infiniti would have/need to be would slow it down with extraneous BS. Give me a car with cloth seats and tire noise, not some rolling cow hide anechoic chamber.

Nissan dealers will be just fine working on a high end car like that. I wouldn't be suprised if there was some additional required training or certified dealer network (like VW did with the Phaeton).

Early 07? Lets count down the days until absolutely no one on TR gets one!

 

Well, all i can say is Infiniti's market Nemesis Lexus is coming out with the LFA, or whatever there going to call the MR V10 semi-supercar, and Infiniti would be stupid not to have a luxo-supercar to contend with it.

Toyota is making the supra again, so i guess Nissan will have the GTR to battle it, but Infiniti has always claimed having the most performance oriented of the Japanese brand luxo cars. Not having the GTR would be a joke. I know many customers that have asked when they can put money down on a new GTR becuase they bought thier "M45" for its performance. The type of people that would buy a GTR are the type of people that we deal with every day.

Of course it wouldnt be the first time if Ghosn is just throwing a loop to keep all the speculation away from the actual production. I think it would be nice to have a GTR for Infiniti and a TT 350z for nissan. Not impossible is it? This all may be some kind of Joke to piss everyone off, but maybe not. This was taken right from NNA and send down the grape vine to our GM so it sounds legitimate.

The odd thing is our Factory rep already told us we are definitely getting the GTR. Its all so very confusing. No one will know till it arrives.

Joe

 

Why would Infiniti be better set up to service the GT-R?

I just check NNA and it says the car will debut in production form at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. It will go on sale in Japan fall 2007, followed by the US and Canada in the spring of 2008.

 

Oop, guess I missed that.

The reasoning for the GTR, IMHO, being better suited for Infiniti is that Nissan in america has a good reputation for going up against the middle rung car manufactures. Nissan vs. Toyota vs. Pontiac vs. Saturn vs. Honda kind of thing. Infiniti goes after BMW, Lexus, Cadilac, and Audi level cars. The GTR, being the AWD 400+hp car its claimed to be goes right up against the M series BMWs, Lexus LFA (when produced), Porches, and even Mercedes sl 55s. Nissan does not fit in these catagories. Theve got no marketing reason to have a car to go up against the cars Infiniti has been going up against already.

Another thing is that Nissan dealerships can be presentable, but for the most part look about right for the market they sell to. Can you get a 350z loaner car when your getting a service done at nissan? No, you get a rental. At Infiniti you get a brand new G35 for a loaner. Delivery and pick up service? Not many Nissan dealerships do this. Yuppie flavored coffe machines, internet access etc etc. Thats called the "Infiniti expierence" and thats what Infiniti has strived for. thats why Infiniti on average is much more expencive in thier labor rates than Nissan. The people who will buy the GTR are going to be wealthier and want that kind of service. This all sounds stupid to us, but it really matters. We hand out surveys that Infiniti gives us and many of the questions on the survey pertain to the matter of appearences, courtesy, and flexability in service work. If we get a bad survey, we dont get paid. Now, Im not saying ALL Nissan dealerships are shitholes run by a bunch of hillbillies, but ive seen a few. Thats my 2 copper pieces

 

I kinda see what you mean. You think people who have 70k to drop on a GT-R are the same (or similar) people that drop comparable money at Infiniti. No doubt, if the GT-R was an Infiniti would there be yuppies putting around in their deck shoes waiting to catch an M5 at a light. And, sure, Infiniti knows how to treat people that have that kind of cash to drop. But, that's not what a GT-R is or should be, and I don't think that's what Ghosn has made it in to. You can't really categorize the GT-R as M5, RS8, or S55 AMG competition. Those are all 4-door sedans that shuffle middle aged men to private golf courses on Friday afternoons.

The GT-R is a pure sports car and should be regarded as such. Comparisons should be made to other 2-door cars that would see track time. If you were Ghosn, would you sell a Z06 at an Infiniti dealer??? So there you are, leaving your law office (or whatever), heading down to the Nissan dealer to cut a check for a GT-R. You can't wait to break it in and spank your Porsche buddies at the next Chin event at Sebring. Do you really care that waiting room doesn't have $2000 leather sofas and complementary Starbucks? Where the hell are you going to put your coffee in a car that doesn't have any cup holders? People have been buying super expensive GT-R's in Japan for decades while standing next to this year's base model Sentra. The GT-R has never been regarded as a luxury brand. The GT-R never even had leather as an option. Why would Nissan go so far as to break the 280ps gentleman's agreement only to yuppie it out? Infiniti does need something to compete with the M5's, M6's, RS8's, and AMG Merc's. Then again why compromise a Global car for a name plate that only exists in North America?

 

Heres my 0.02 about it.

Dodge sells there viper, well priced above anything else on there showroom floor or the vast majority of there target market.

Chevrolet sells the Corvette, which on the low/base model side is somewhere near the rest of there target market group. But on the high/Z06 model side is EONS away from any of the rest of there market.

They sell those cars just for what they are, performance from the factory. Albeit if someone buys it for that or not thats up to the purchaser but thats how they sell them.

When Toyota was selling the supra over here it was also priced well above alot of other models on there lot.

I dont think that Nissan will have a problem selling the GT-R's on there lot and it really shouldnt affect Infiniti all that much either.


And IMO half the people that would buy this car, even if it was badged as a Infiniti over here would swap the badging to what it really is. I know if I could afford one I would, because its just not a Infiniti.

 

Well, all good points, but its kind of funny to have all the other models of Skyline's in America as Infinitis then have the top model GTR as a Nissan, even though they split the names skyline and gtr into two different cars, theyre still recocnized as the same car. The point is we on these forums are biased for what the skyline and GTR's actually are. I look at in in the NSX point of view along with the Pheoton. The NSX comes to America under the Acura badge because all highend, and not nessesarily luxury Hondas came over as Acuras. Then you have the Phaeton problem in having a flagship super high end luxo cruiser being sold next to bugs. That didnt work, did it?

Does anyone have problems with the current Skylines being Infinitis? The whole reason that the three major Japanese companies came to this country under different names to sell thier high-end JDM cars was so that a different market could be achieved. No one would buy a Toyota soarer in this country for what the asking price is because is a Toyota. Lexus on the otherhand can charge whatever they want because its a Luxury brand. Nissan would look quite silly selling $65k Cimas in America, but Infiniti can. The basic idea here is not what the GTR represents. The R series is dead. The new GTR is something quite different and the concept here is the bottom line: Price. As for the Viper and Z06, they hold a different market here being that they are american cars. It is aparent that the US auto manufacture can do whatever they want and get away with it. Chevy built the Corvette in the 50's and have 50years of owner loyalty and racing history to go on. The Vette represents american sports cars. ( I also remind you that the Vette when it came out was nothing special) So selling the highend performance version of the Corvette next to aveos doesnt phase american buyers. The Viper is simple because of the rivalry set up against american auto manufactures. Dodge guys, Ford guys, Chevy guys. Dodge new they had a loyal following and decided to pander to that market by making the viper. Both cars have done well for thier companies. The GTR has niether the reputation in this country nor much of a following (that would be able to afford it) and no great rival to boost intrest. Now if Nissan markets it right and RACES it, then after a year or two the market will pick up for Nissan, but if sold as an Infiniti the market is aready there.

By the way, i absolutely guarantee that the new GTR will have cupholders.

 

wait a minute. infiniti is just a sub division under nissan, so infiniti's have nissan motors...do you see where I am going, so this means that if someone did buy the new GT-R or what ever the hell it is, that they can take it to an infiniti dealership to get it fixed.