VIDEO REPORT: NISSAN PERFORMANCE DIVISION TAKES THE CHICAGO AUTO SHOW

CHICAGO – Nissan’s NISMO performance division is taking to the global stage with gusto, focusing on the U.S. market for expansion. In fact, visitors to the 2015 Chicago Auto Show will see NISMO taking over the Nissan stage.

“It is perfect timing because we have got the benefit of that fantastic Super Bowl ad and everyone wants to see the car. And of course we have the ad playing in the background, so it really has all come together perfectly,” said Darren Cox, Global Head, Brand, Marketing & Sales, NISMO.

For more than 30 years NISMO has been a powerful player in automotive performance. Recent years have seen the brand expanded in the United States – first on the Z® sports car, then in 2013 with the launch of JUKE NISMO, in 2014 with JUKE NISMO RS and most recently the mighty 600-horsepower 2015 GT-R NISMO.

“When we show them the NISMO brand, it is that we do indeed take this technology and these advancements in what we see in racing and bring it down to the street level for our customers,” said Fred Diaz, senior vice president, Nissan Sales & Marketing and Operations U.S., Nissan North America.

News at the Chicago show also included the announcement that GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough is joining fellow GT Academy winner Lucas Ordonez – and NISMO racer Michael Krumm – as drivers for the GT-R LM NISMO at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this June. There also was the reveal of Nissan’s 370Z NISMO Roadster Concept – a one-off design study created to gauge market interest in an ultimate factory Z® Performance Roadster.

“The 370Z design concept roadster that we have here has been incredibly well received. The reaction from the crowd when we unveiled it and the questions, the number of questions, the amount of journalists that came to ask about the vehicle says really good things about where we are going with this potential design. We will see what kinds of attention we get in social media and then decide whether or not this is something that we will bring to reality in the future,” said Diaz.

NISMO is an integral part of Nissan’s development process for road cars, as well as a prime player in the company’s global motorsports strategy. High performance and intelligent design are key to the NISMO spirit.

“The GT-R LM NISMO is really the top end of our racing cars. The reveal of this LM P1 car at the Chicago Auto Show is really exciting and really motivating for the people who are working for NISMO and all of the people who are engaged with the project of the LMP1,” said Shoichi Miyatani, president, Nissan Motorsports International Co., Ltd. “The technology put into this car can be fed back to the road cars. The engine of this car is a V6 3.0-liter twin-turbo with fuel efficiency. That kind of fuel efficient but good power and good torque, this kind of thing could be easily fed back to the road cars.”

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