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Nissan’s New CEO Wants a Next-Generation GT-R
The on-again, off-again next-generation GT-R already has a spot in Nissan’s future product pipeline, according to incoming CEO Ivan Espinosa. While the 46-year-old executive will inherit a dauntingly long to-do list, he revealed that he won’t forget about sports cars and that the GT-R nameplate isn’t dead.
“We will continue working on sports cars. This is part of DNA. I cannot tell you when and how, but of course the GT-R name will exist into the future,” he told industry trade journal Automotive News.
Espinosa, who drives a Z to work every day and rides motorcycles, revealed that his fascination with the 300ZX led him to apply for a job at Nissan in the early 2000s. He’s still there 25 years later, so he will step into the CEO’s office with a thorough knowledge of both the company’s current situation and its heritage.
But, keep in mind that Espinosa didn’t reveal what the next-generation GT-R will look like. He merely said that the nameplate won’t be consigned to the pantheon of automotive history, which is a statement that asks more questions than it answers. Releasing a GT-R Appearance Package for the Kicks would count as keeping the nameplate alive, wouldn’t it? It’s an extreme example, and one that’s unlikely to happen, but the point is that Espinosa’s comment doesn’t cast light on what comes after the R35-generation model.
And, it takes more than an executive’s nod of approval to put a car into production. Rewind to 2013: Dan Akerson, who was the head of General Motors at the time, went on record saying he wanted to see more Opel models sold in the United States, including the Adam city car. Spoiler alert: We never got the Adam.
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But, hearing a CEO openly say that he’s committed to sports cars is music to our ears, especially since the GT-R’s future has been in limbo. The R35-generation model made its global debut at the 2007 Tokyo auto show and finally retired in February 2025, though production for the American market ended in October 2024. It gradually gained more horsepower and became more expensive during its nearly 20-year-long production run, and it set a high bar for its predecessor. Replacing the R35 will be a Herculean task.
Most sources agree that the next GT-R will feature some degree of electrification. That doesn’t mean it will be electric; It might land as a hybrid. All-wheel-drive sounds like a given, and we’d bet that the design will evolve while retaining a few styling cues that make it recognizable as a GT-R (like round rear lights).
This is all pure speculation, and official details about the next GT-R aren’t available. Espinosa has far more pressing problems to solve before turning his attention to the R36. It’s been a tumultuous few years for Nissan: Sales are down, profits are dropping, and cash is running out. Espinosa said one of the problems he wants to tackle is planning. He aims to close the gap between the sales goals set by executives and real-world demand, he told Automotive News. Keeping costs in check is another item that’s high on his list of priorities, and he may choose to jump-start the stalled merger talks with Honda to keep Nissan afloat.
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Nissan needs to find a good quality CUV that sells like crazy as that is where the money is.
Well, they could bring Carlos Ghosn back to save the company again, but I think they would have trouble getting him to trust them…. Then Espinosa could work on the R36
Let’s see if Nissan can survive the next few years. If so then maybe they can do a new GT-R. Considering they couldn’t really do a new Z I don’t think it will happen anytime soon.