Nissan Motor Company’s new version of its muscle car dubbed as GT-R hits dealerships across the United States by June, but this early it has already acquired a good number of followers from the American automobile market.

The sudden clamor for the upcoming Nissan GT-R, which is equipped with top of the line Nissan parts, has prompted Nissan dealerships nationwide to already accept orders. In the Wisconsin-based Nissan of Rivergate, there are already six customers who have expressed strong interest on the GT-R according to dealership manager Keith Reecer.

According to Nissan North America Inc., which is located in Nashville, Tennessee, the Nissan GT-R sports car will be the halo car of the Japanese automobile brand. This means that this model is targeted to draw more customers to other Nissan vehicles.

“GT-R is intended to help re-energize the Nissan brand,” said Rich Latek, who is the marketing director for crossover and sports cars of Nissan USA. “While we already have the 350Z as our iconic sports car, the GT-R gives us an entry into a place we haven’t competed before. It will go head-to-head against the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and the Dodge Viper.”

Nissan might be on the right track on placing its sports car in the limelight as automotive marketing experts also think that such tactics will work to entice motorists and enthusiasts to the Japanese-built brand.

“Halo cars are worth a tremendous amount to a manufacturer even if none of them are ever sold,” said George Peterson, who is the president of the marketing research firm AutoPacific. “They can just put it in the dealership, put floodlights on it, and people will come in to see it.

With Nissan GT-R functioning as both an attraction and a promising high-performing model, people will likely visit dealerships of the company. Most of these people, however, will not buy the muscle car but will be enticed to look at the company’s other models, like the Nissan Altima and Maxima, which is geared with equally efficient Nissan parts.

“Most of them won’t buy it, but it will stimulate interest in the company’s other vehicles. Already, Nissan has done a great job of priming the media with the GT-R, and that’s exactly what they wanted to do,” said Peterson. “People will believe that the GT-R DNA also extends to other Nissan vehicles. And to some extent, they’re right. The Altima has always been a very good car, and the new one is screwed together very nicely.”

Experts also boosted Nissan’s halo car by stating that the prices of fuel will not greatly affect the release of the GT-R. Those who can afford to buy the $70,000 GT-R, which will only be available in the US for 1, 500 units annually, do not really give much emphasis on whether there is a fuel hike or so.

“I don’t know if there is ever a wrong time to bring out a halo car,” said Peterson. “Even though gas prices are way up there, to the people who buy these kinds of cars, fuel prices are irrelevant. It’s a real ego trip and image car.”

Geared with high-performing Nissan parts, the GT-R can muster up to 480-horsepower via its 3.8-liter V-6 powertrain. Complementing such powerful engine is a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission system and a four-wheel drive system.

Source: Tennesean.

The seven-month long exhibit will have interactive displays instead of the usual ones. Part of the exhibit will include “The Science of Spying” and “The Science of Aliens”. There will also be a special spot for what sort of lifestyle is in store by 2050. Among the subjects in this area is the Japanese automaker’s Nissan Pivo. This concept electric car is powered by a compact lithium-ion battery. Debuted at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, Pivo’s unique Nissan parts and features include a bubble-shaped cabin that is capable to face all directions via a full 360-degree rotation. The vehicle is part of the automaker’s Nissan Green Program 2010 that aims to lessen the noxious Carbon dioxide emissions of Nissan vehicles in the environment.

“We are proud to be supporting this world class educational program and to help bring awareness to the mobility issues faced by society,” said Simon Sproule, who is the corporate vice president of global communications at Nissan. “Creating long-term sustainable mobility will be a major technological challenge, but it is one that Nissan is committed to addressing through the development of advanced programs such as electric vehicles.”

The “Science of Survival” will run from the 2nd of April until November 2. After its seven-month stint in the Science Museum, the exhibit will head on to its global tour for five years.

Source: PR Newswire.

The Nissan Design America, Inc. can expect to lose about 12 to 100 posts via the company’s voluntary buyout offers. It was stated in the Michigan paper that Nissan is zeroing in on designers, quality designers, and color designers as 33 individuals from these posts will be eliminated. Modelers and administrative staff of the Nissan Design America, however, will not be affected by the planned cut. Most likely, the bigger design unit based in San Diego, California will receive the biggest cut than the Farmington Hills, Michigan design hub.

Source: The Detroit News via Marketwatch.

An official statement posted online by the public records division of the U.S. Senate confirmed that Nissan USA indeed used $2.1 million to fund the lobbying measures done during the third to the last quarter of 2007. The Japanese car company’s North American arm urged changes on trade issues that could likely affect the automaker’s status quo in America. Currency exchange-rate manipulation and anti-dumping were also part of the automaker’s campaign.

Last December, President George Bush gave the go signal on an energy bill that calls for automobile companies to improve fuel-economy standards to as much as 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Nissan USA also lobbied for this issue and spent an estimated amount of $1.9 million in the first two quarters of the previous year. Aside from the Congress, the car maker was also keen on affecting decisions of the Department of Commerce last year.

Source: Houston Chronicle.

According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the safety air bags of both models produced by Japanese company Nissan were not properly programmed. With such faulty software program of the air bags, these Nissan parts will likely fail to inflate right away when a collision happens.

“Due to incorrect software programming, the airbag control unit may cause the passenger airbag not to operate as designed if the vehicle battery becomes significantly discharged,” said NHTSA in an official statement in the national agency’s website. “This could result in the passenger airbag not inflating in a crash in which it was designed to do so, and increasing the risk of injury.”

Based on the data of Autodata Corporation of New Jersey, a total of 76, 358 units of the medium-sized crossover SUV Murano was sold in 2007. From this number, 11, 511 vehicles were equipped with the defective air bag software program. Meanwhile, 4, 854 units of the high-end SUV Infiniti EX 35, which was introduced last December to go against BMW’s X3 and Honda’s Acura RDX, are part of the recall.

Nissan dealers across America will reprogram the air bag software of the 16,365 vehicles. Murano and Infiniti EX 35 owners can expect the recall to start this month and can call Nissan at (800) 647-7261 and Infiniti at (800) 662-6200.

Source: Bloomberg and Edmunds.

An authority from Nissan has informed Motor Trend about the plans on the Nissan GT-R. Adding two more doors on the high-performing car is not at all impossible but such move will mean a big funding from the company because the modification is not cheap. The doors, rear seats and other additional Nissan parts would ask to stretch the coupe to accommodate these changes. To make the car a full-time sedan, the body side and carbon fiber intensive front structure have to be revamped. Utilizing a steel body can be one of the options of the car maker but such material can aggravate the lightweight quality of the Nissan GT-R.

Juxtaposed with these alterations, four-door GT-R will still have the same suspension and power plant parts. A 3.8-liter VR38 engine, which can muster a good 480-horsepower, the four-wheel drive system, and the six-speed automatic transmission will still be geared in the modified performance car.

These modifications will clearly cost a lot as about $3000 to $5000 will be added to the current price of the GT-R. The possible four-dour sedan version of the muscle car from Nissan can carry a hefty $85, 000 with these planned changes. A good note though: with the sedan under the umbrella of luxury brand Infinity, parent company Nissan will finally have a performance car to go against rival muscle vehicles AMG and M autos from German car companies Mercedes-Benz and BMW, respectively. Moreover, this could also help boost Nissan to become a global player in the volatile automobile industry

Source: Motor Trend

The division of light Nissan parts tuning has a bigger following compared to motor sports tuning. For that, the service that has a bigger demand has to reach more customers, thus Nissan took hold of the light-tune auto parts business. In this set up, more Nissan owners that are seeking expertise on NISMO light auto parts and tuning can avail of the service practically in any Nissan dealer in Japan.

Aside from benefiting the light-tune parts customers, the reorganization is also a convenient for NISMO heavy-tune parts division. With the light tuning division out from its wing, this Nissan affiliate can further focus more on developing and tweaking NISMO performance parts of racers and enthusiasts geared for the speed world or other motor shows.

Customizing and tuning are some of the booming markets in the automobile industry that Nissan has taken advantage of in its homeland. In a few years, the company is also planning to bring the same services abroad.

Source: Auto Spectator.

Nissan and Honda, along with Toyota Motor Corporation, are all doing great in terms of sales in booming markets China and Russia. According to the five consolidated estimates done by Bloomberg, Nissan posed an increase of as much as 26 percent, which translates to 131.5 billion yen, in its sales by the last quarter of 2007. In the U.S. market, Nissan posted a 5.1 percent increase. Honda, on the other hand, recorded a 2.3 percent increase or $1.39 from October to December 31 based on six estimates.

The cost of gas contributed a lot to the car preference of a lot of drivers in America. With the price of gasoline reaching as much as $3 per gallon, more motorists in the United States have decided to use fuel efficient vehicles. Compact cars like the Nissan Versa or Honda Fit are more preferred than big pick-up trucks or sport utility vehicles, which are mostly from American automakers Ford and General Motors, that tend to consume too much gas. This factor further boosted Nissan and other automobile companies from Japan to rank.

“Japanese brands are very strong in emerging markets thanks to their quality and durability,” said Koichi Ogawa of Tokyo’s Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. “Expertise in building small cars will continue driving Japanese automakers’ sales higher.”

Such progress proved to be a relief for Nissan, which is hailed as the third-biggest Japanese automobile company, as it suffered a 23 percent set back two years ago. To date, this was the lowest annual profit of the automaker. The seen culprit for it was the lack of new models from Nissan.

To avoid being in the slumps again again, Nissan’s Chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn has laid out plans of releasing 11 models this year. The pool of cars will be made of brand new and spruced up Nissan vehicles that will all be equipped with quality Nissan parts. If all things go well, Nissan may eventually fully establish its brand in the U.S. market.

Source: Bloomberg.

It is all about giving back this New Year. Employees of a Nissan dealership in Montreal, Canada gave a big sum of $6,000 to Sun Youth Organization (SYO) as a way of looking after the not so privileged big families in the vicinity of the largest city in Quebec.According to the Nissan employees, the amount given is from the dealership and from their own pockets as a way to show how much they value and support the activities of SYO. Aside from the money, a brand new Nissan Altima and Nissan Quest minivan were given to the co-founders of SYO. These vehicles, which are equipped with high-performing Nissan Parts, will not be used for personal purposes but these will actually serve as emergency vans for the charity group. Nissan Altima, on the other hand, will aid the several services done by SYO, like the Seniors Club, will also greatly benefit from these Nissan models.

“Sun Youth is an important resource to many families and individuals in the Montréal area” said Wendy Durward, who is the marketing communications director for Nissan Montreal. “Nissan employees are proud of the communities in which we work and live, and we wanted to show our support to our neighbors and start the New Year in a positive way”.

SYO, which is a Montreal-based group, provides utmost care, guidance, and financial support to the poor and big families in the city. The money given by Nissan Montreal will aid the 50-year-old charity organization for carrying out its food programs, recreation centers, clothing bank, and seniors club.

Source: Auto 123.