| Pricing announcement | 2008 Geneva Motor Show | Nissan GT-R |
Nissan's press conference at the
Geneva show was not as mobbed an affair as some of the presentations later in the day, partly because of the early start time and in part due to the lack of any world debuts on hand. However, the assembled crowd woke up a little more when Nissan announced that the new GT-R would start at just £52,900 in the UK.
That's only two grand more than the
BMW M3 costs, yet the GT-R is said to step on the toes of such iconic supercars as the Porsche 911 Turbo with its 473bhp twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 and sophisticated chassis and transmission.
That's the good news. The bad news is that there's still an age to wait before the first UK customers will get their hands on their new GT-R. The order book opens in early April, but cars will not arrive before March 2009. The GT-R can only be bought from and serviced by one of 10 newly appointed 'Nissan High Performance Centres', though the car may be ordered from April 4th at
www.gtrnissan.com.
Nissan promises that the wait for the GT-R will be eased with specific events for buyers to allow them to experience the car early on. Following on from that, Nissan will offer buyers an optional Concierge Service, though all cars will be collected for scheduled maintenance.
There will be two extra grades available. The Premium Edition costs £54,200 and adds automatic lights and an uprated Bose stereo to the standard car's specification, while the GT-R Black Edition features Kuro black paint, gunmetal grey alloys and a special interior using black leather, 'Pearlsuede' and red leather highlights.
Shane O' Donoghue - 5 Mar 2008