A New Nissan GT-R Is Coming, Says New ‘Car Guy’ CEO

The Nissan GT-R is coming back, baby.

OK, so there’s no timeline for its return, nor any information about what it might be like. Will it be electric? Will it still be a coupe? We don’t know. But what we do know is that a new era of GT-R has been confirmed by Nissan’s new cool-guy CEO Ivan Espinosa.

When asked if the GT-R could make a comeback after the current R35-generation’s order books closed, Espinosa finally gave the world the answer it’s been hoping for. “We will continue working on sports cars. This is part of our DNA. I cannot tell you when and how, but of course, the GT-R name will exist into the future,” he told Automotive News.

What the next GT-R will look like is another question for another time, but there may be some clues. While Nissan never released a succession plan for the R35 GT-R, despite it feeling like it originally went on sale during the Civil War, there’s been word about an electric replacement. Even Espinosa himself hinted at an electric GT-R back when he was Nissan’s president of global strategy.

During an interview with Top Gear in July 2024, Espinosa was asked about electric performance vehicles. “The acceleration out of a corner is far quicker than combustion-engined cars, and the level of control is much higher,” he said. “With a GT-R this could be a good thing since it’s a car that’s easy to drive on track because of the systems it has, and you can deliver that same experience with an EV.”

Since Nissan already has several years of experience in Formula E, it has the electric performance chops to make an EV GT-R (I’m calling it now, it’s going to be called the GT-REV). And considering Nissan’s current push to bring as many electrified vehicles to market in the next few years, it seems likely that the upcoming “R36” will have electric motors. At the very least, it should be a hybrid.

Whatever it is, though, we can trust that Espinosa will make sure it’s a proper GT-R. He’s proven himself to be a Real Car Guy; he drives a Nissan Z to work, he cut his automotive teeth as an engineer, and his first passion was a Nissan 300ZX. He’s even gone on record saying he wants to revive the Silvia and bring an affordable electric sports car to market, priced underneath the Z.

This talk of a new GT-R doesn’t just feel like lip service or an executive trying to hedge. Espinosa has a deep love for both Nissan, having worked there for 25 years, and sports cars. So, when he says the GT-R is coming back, I believe him.

Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com

The post A New Nissan GT-R Is Coming, Says New ‘Car Guy’ CEO appeared first on The Drive.