GT-R

Make
Nissan
Segment
Coupe

The Nissan GT-R is a true icon and still one of the best performance cars you can buy, even though it has stuck around with roughly the same recipe for far longer than anyone expected. Various special editions have been made over the years, and the latest came with a promise that a successor would be forthcoming. The current R35 generation is already dead in some markets, but however long it continues to soldier on, we're all but guaranteed to see its replacement arrive with a hybrid powertrain. These suspicions are being perpetuated by a new report from Autocar after the publication spoke with Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida.

"We are looking at how we can do it electrified," said the Nissan boss. "It's something that's a really professional sports vehicle with no compromise. The Z is for someone like me who enjoys sports cars. The GT-R is a professional machine and we need to work it out for the future."

We know from earlier reports that Nissan wants the next GT-R to be the best of the best, something that outshines all other challengers in its class and above. To achieve this, the GT-R will likely use a new platform but the turbocharged V6 will remain, only now it will have the aid of electric assistance.

It's possible that we could see the old alongside the new in terms of design too, as the Japanese manufacturer has shown that retro styling works really well. The new Nissan Z benefited from this approach and there's no reason that it couldn't work on a new GT-R too. In fact, Nissan design chief Alfonso Albaisa was quoted as saying that "the straight-edged silhouette of the R32 GT-R is likely to have an influence on the R36." As long as those twin round taillight clusters return, we're sure that Nissan fans will like where the design goes next. All that remains to be seen is if the innards of the next GT-R are good enough to keep drivers happy.