Nissan GT-R set for a return alongside Skyline saloon
Nissan CEO, Ivan Espinosa, has confirmed that the GT-R’s return is a priority, as one of the strongest brands in Nissan’s portfolio
Nissan has confirmed that a new Skyline saloon is on the way and that in its tyre tracks will follow a new Nissan GT-R, with the two models described by Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa as ‘heartbeat models’ alongside the Z sports car family, the Patrol SUV and bizarrely, the Leaf.
Speaking to our sister title Auto Express at the Nissan Vision event at its global HQ in Yokohama, Japan, Espinosa confirmed that it was an ‘easy’ decision to proceed with a new GT-R. ‘Of course, it’s one of the strongest brands in our portfolio. It’s not only a car, it’s a symbol of many things inside and outside the company. There definitely needs to be a new GT-R: it will come.’
Nissan’s intention to keep the GT-R name alive shouldn’t come as a surprise. The company revealed the Hyper Force concept in 2023, which was a GT-R concept in all but name, with the famed enamel badges affixed to a futuristic interpretation of what a next-generation GT-R super coupe could look like.
The only point of contention was its powertrain. It was all-electric, with a 1341bhp four-wheel drive set-up. Rumours had it that a production version would be the first to adopt lighter, more efficient solid-state battery technology, with Nissan previously saying that its first model to use the tech would launch in 2028.
The Skyline teasers seen here were revealed during the main presentation at the Nissan Vision event, with Espinosa saying Skyline ‘represents the origin and soul of Nissan’ and that it would be ‘a reimagined icon of Japanese engineering and driving passion with performance and precision’.
Though the car hasn’t been shown in full, there’s no missing that it rolls hard on classic Skyline iconography, from the circular rear light graphics to the retro Skyline script – a revival of the badge last seen on the Hakosuka of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Also detectable are notes of shared design DNA with the Hyper Force concept, particularly in that bluff snout and with those flanking daytime-running lights.
Next Nissan GT-R – will it have an engine?
The fact that the previous certainty that the next GT-R would be all-electric is being brought into question reflects the recent industry-wide turnaround on electrification strategy, particularly for performance cars. It’s in response to souring customer sentiment and questionable demand for electric cars in the premium and performance EV markets.
For now Espinosa has elected to not confirm details of the next-generation GT-R’s technical constitution – our best hope is for a BMW M5-style plug-in hybrid, potentially still with next-gen battery tech, but incorporating a new or heavily-updated V6 combustion engine.
Nissan’s commitment to V6 power is assured by the fact that Espinosa has promised to reboot Nissan’s luxurious offshoot Infiniti with among other models, a ‘performance-oriented V6 sedan’. It’s with this model that the new Nissan Skyline saloon, could potentially be twinned.
The Nissan GT-R and Skyline are core models in evo’s history, the R34 Skyline GT-R being the cover star all the way back in issue 009 and the R35 GT-R taking the evo Car of the Year crown at the first time of asking, in 2008.
> The R35 Nissan GT-R is dead after 18 years, and it bows out as a legend
The R35 Nissan GT-R was long-lived, the last of circa-48,000 GT-Rs leaving the production line in August 2025, after an 18-year run. For its age, the viscerality of the GT-R driving experience never got old, only proving more of a novelty as rivals became more sanitised and refined over the years. It’s that raw mechanical feel that will be the greatest challenge for Nissan to emulate in the R36.
