YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today kicked off a new era for NISMO, confirming it as Nissan’s exclusive global performance car and motorsports brand and officially opening the new NISMO global headquarters and development center in Yokohama, Japan.

NISMO is already well-known to motorsports and performance car enthusiasts in Japan and to millions of global gaming enthusiasts. Now, NISMO is poised for accelerated global impact, enhancing Nissan’s reputation for innovation and excitement with a new line-up of sporty Nissan production vehicles.

In a special ceremony today, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn declared the new headquarters open and explained how NISMO will play an even more prominent role for the company’s performance car and motorsports activities.

“NISMO will democratize performance and bring new excitement to the Nissan portfolio with a broader range of affordable and innovative performance models for more markets and more people,” said Mr. Ghosn. “Whether it’s a small car or a sports car, if it’s wearing the NISMO badge it offers something special – quality, functionality, and efficiency, with NISMO’s distinctive styling, sporty handling and dynamic performance capabilities.

The first new Nissan production vehicle to get the NISMO treatment, the Juke NISMO, is already on sale in Europe and Japan and launches in the United States in the spring.

A new version of the 370Z NISMO for European markets is the next NISMO vehicle, which made its world debut earlier this month and builds on the platform of Nissan’s most popular and accessible sports car. The 370Z NISMO is now in its second generation in the U.S., with a revised 2014 370Z NISMO set for sale this summer. 

Nissan is promising a rapid pace of introduction of even more NISMO models – at least one model every year during the Nissan Power88 period, encompassing the breadth of the Nissan model range. This will include the flagship of Nissan’s performance and technology efforts, the Nissan GT-R. 

“It would be unthinkable for us to develop a range of NISMO road cars without including the GT-R,” said Mr. Ghosn. “The standard production model is a global supercar and the GT-R’s performance on track reflects the passion and talents of the NISMO team. The GT-R NISMO will be special and I can’t wait to drive it.”

A New Home for NISMO

Nissan has invested in an entirely new facility for NISMO’s operations, redeveloping a former production site to give it the resources for expanding beyond motorsports engineering to encompass performance car development alongside Nissan. The new headquarters facility allows the NISMO team to be co-located in one place, bringing together the functional areas for NISMO’s key activities and technical and competition expertise under one roof.

The 180-strong team is now located inside Nissan’s Powertrain Engineering complex. The workshop, engine shop, rooms for fabrication, grinding and carbon composite processes are consolidated into the same floor space along with the parts warehouse. A new larger showroom allows up to eight vehicles to be displayed, while the retail area is now almost twice the size of the previous store in the Omori factory.

“This is a great move for NISMO as we can now shift gears to operate more efficiently and expand the brand globally,” explained NISMO President Shoichi Miyatani.

“NISMO is a key element in Nissan’s future global vehicle and motorsports strategy and we will quickly establish it as Nissan’s exclusive performance brand,” he added. “This is the first time that all of our team has been located together, and the entire facility will become a hothouse of passion and performance.”

The NISMO Spirit

At the heart of each new NISMO model will be a consistent DNA focused on delivering quality, functionality, and efficiency in everyday driving with NISMO’s distinctive styling, sporty handling and dynamic performance capabilities.

Nissan’s new range of NISMO performance models will be built on the same production lines as their standard counterparts, which combined with inspiration taken from decades of racing and tuning expertise means that the NISMO brand ensures fully integrated performance enhancements.

Every modification NISMO makes to a production car will be functional and targeted to improve on-road performance and presence. The spirit of NISMO relies on its proud motorsports heritage and a maverick engineering philosophy. This spirit will be reflected in every new NISMO model with efficient performance, accessible and advanced technology, and bold, smart design, all of which embody Nissan’s philosophy of “innovation that excites.”