With the rumour circulating tonight, that tomorrow Nissan Australia will announce that they are entering the 2013 V8 Supercar Championship, it got me thinking which model of their current car range should they base their entry on ?
The obvious choice would be the GTR
Currently very popular with Tarmac Racer’s and GT racers all over the world.
But the GTR is currently only available as a two door.
The more logical choice would be to use the Nissan Skyline Sedan currently sold in Japan, as this is a four door sedan same as the Commodore and Falcon currently run in the championship.
But the Skyline Sedan isn’t sold in Australia, however Nissan’s luxury brand Infiniti, which is launching in Australia this year, does sell a four door sedan. The Infiniti M
So this would be the perfect opportunity for Nissan & Infiniti to work together to promote both brands and to help launch Infiniti to the Australian market.
The other options and the one that has been mentioned before, would be the Nissan Maxima which is sold in Australia, but the American version would be a better choice as its a nicer looking model.
Another model name being thrown around is the Altima, this is a model currently only sold in America and Japan and not Australia, so it doesn’t make sense to really base a race car off it.
But in saying that, there is a Hybrid version built of this car so it could be good to promote the green angle ?
The final model being mentioned isn’t really made in any market currently but does have a long Motorsport history.
The Nissan Primera is alot smaller than the other cars mentioned but was successfully raced both in the UK and Australia in the 90’s.
But with the only similar model on sale today the current Pulsar, it isn’t really an ideal choice as its a lot smaller car compared to the Falcon and Commodore.
What will Nissan choose ? Its anybodies guess, but by tommorrow afternoon we may have more of an idea.
It should definitely be the Infiniti M IMHO.
However, I’ve often wondered why Nissan are yet to bring modern Skyline sedans to Oz, considering the cult following that “Silvias” enjoy[ed].
Same goes for Toyota with the Mark X.
Perhaps our stronger dollar may change things somewhat, but I think these parts of the market hardly shrunk but the lines blurred with vehicles almost the same size. The lesser offerings ceased participation and owners were left with fewer choices.
SUVs (really repackaged mini-vans/people movers) are only considered popular because that is one of the few options available.
That’s why opening up of Australia’s biggest racing formula, presents such a big opportunity for local Brands.