New Nissan CEO wants to launch four or more global halo cars

Being the passionate car guy that he is, Espinosa wants not one, not two, but four or more big halo cars to get back into the game.

Things have not been great for Nissan in recent times, including the failed talks of a Honda merger and missed market opportunities. But that could change. New Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa, who will take over the reins of the company starting April 1, wants to reinvigorate the brand.

Being the passionate car guy that he is, Espinosa wants not one, not two, but four or more big halo cars to get back into the game.

Speaking to Top Gear, he said, “I want to have four or five cars at the top of our portfolio that are really brand-oriented cars; cars that really represent what Nissan is about, that show what the heartbeat of Nissan is."

“Driving excitement will always be at the heart of Nissan, it’s what we do.”

Espinosa says that ‘driving fun’ doesn't just apply to sports cars. “We also have the Patrol,” he said. “If you go to Dubai or Abu Dhabi, you can drive it in the dunes. I’ve done it myself, it’s really exciting and super fun.”

“These cars should go everywhere in the world,” he added, pointing at how some markets miss out on some fantastic models due to ‘democratic’ discussions on which model should go where. For eg: the UK doesn't get the Z, while the Patrol is a Middle East special model.

“I have some options about the cars but you can imagine a future Z if we ever do a more affordable car which is still in my dream as I’ve told you, maybe the future GT-R, a future Patrol. These are for me the cars that really describe what Nissan is about. With this, we keep the dream alive of what driving excitement is.”

While he admitted regulations were making things difficult, he said things should get easier once regulations move to electrified powertrains.

When asked about a future GT-R he said, “We’re looking at options for the next GT-R.” He went on to explain that the new model could be inspired by the 1,341bhp Hyper Force concept that was showcased recently. This hints that the new GT-R could get dual motors with AWD, a solid state battery and AI technology.

Source: Top Gear