Last week, Nissan announced plans to expand its Nismo road car business, revealing that it would let its performance sub-brand loose on a “greater range of models”. And one of those models might just be a bakkie.
According to an Automotive News report, the Japanese automaker’s expanded Nismo line-up will include crossovers, minivans and even pickups.
“We see potential in the expansion of categories,” Takao Katagiri, CEO of Nissan Motorsports International, told the US publication.
While it’s perhaps too early to say, the brand’s focus on the US market might suggest that the pickup in question is the Titan (with a possible performance version to take on Ford’s F-150 Raptor), although various earlier reports suggest that Nissan has been working on a Nismo performance package for the Navara.
At the moment, the limited Nismo road car range focuses on sedans, coupés and hatchbacks, but Katagiri revealed to Automotive News that the sub-brand had plans to start working on “lifestyle vehicles”, too.
Last year, Nismo sold some 15 000 vehicles, but Katagiri said that the sub-brand would target an annual figure of 100 000 by the early 2020s.
“Demand for these types of [performance] cars is about five to 10 percent of every market. It’s the same all over the world,” he said.
