Lots More Nismo Models Are On The Way From Nissan

Nissan has been in need of good news stories more than many other brands of late, and here’s one to warm the hearts of car enthusiasts everywhere. As part of its in-motion plans to turn around the dire financial straits it found itself in recently, it’s going to be quite literally doubling down on its Nismo performance brand, by increasing its range from five to 10 cars, as well as providing more support for owners of its classic performance cars.

This may appear frivolous when the company’s been busy pausing in-development projects and closing factories, but it’s all part of the plan to win people over with emotionally-resonant ‘heartbeat models’, something we first started hearing about when new CEO Ivan Espinosa took over in April 2025.

Those five current models are a varied bunch. Here in Europe, the only car to wear Nismo badges is the Ariya EV, one of the most underwhelming ‘performance’ cars we’ve tried in a long time. Elsewhere, though, there’s the Nismo version of the Z sports car – which is set to soon get the manual gearbox it should have had from day one – and the gigantic Patrol/Armada Nismo performance SUV.

In Japan, meanwhile, you can get an X-Trail Nismo, which brings some trick suspension but no extra power, and the Note Aura Nismo, a lightly hotted-up hybrid hatchback. Which other models could get Nismo-ified isn’t clear yet, but Nissan says it wants to up sales of Nismo-badged cars from the current 100,000-ish it sells a year to 150,000, which will also involve selling them in more markets.

Elsewhere, Nissan says it remains committed to Nismo’s existing motorsport activities in Super GT and Formula E, and that it’ll expand into other forms of racing too. Starting next year, it’ll begin introducing “prototype vehicles for racing activities to accelerate technological advancements.” Our best guess here is for more tech-demo one-offs like the mad Leaf Nismo RC from a few years ago.

Last but not least, Nismo will further grow its supply of new-old parts and restoration services for great Nissan performance cars of old. This will initially focus on the R32, R33 and R34 Skyline GT-Rs, but will expand into other models further down the line.

It all sounds fairly positive, then, for sporty Nissan fans, providing that what comes next is more engaging than the Ariya Nismo. If nothing else, it bodes well for an eventual R36 GT-R.