Nissan is expanding its Nismo Performance Centers beyond Japan for the first time, opening a specialty location in Australia aimed at owners of older and iconic Nissan performance cars. The first overseas center is in Ferntree Gully, Victoria, just outside Melbourne.
Nismo Opens Its First Overseas Performance Center
The new Nismo Performance Center in Australia marks the first time Nissan has opened one of these specialty shops outside Japan. The Ferntree Gully location will provide services focused on Nismo vehicles and older Nissan performance models.
Nissan and Nismo experts will offer restoration work, Nismo performance parts, maintenance and repairs. The center will also provide restoration services for owners looking to preserve their vehicles.
Yutaka Sanada, head of Nismo globally, said Australia was selected because of its established performance-car culture and strong community around the GT-R.
“Our focus is on bringing the brand closer to customers in the right markets, with the right products, services, and experiences. Australia is a natural priority because of its mature performance culture, strong GT-R community, and clear appetite for authentic Nismo heritage, performance parts, technical expertise, and motorsport-driven experiences.”
Why Australia Was Chosen
Nissan has operated in Australia for a long time and has offered several of its special models there, including multiple generations of the GT-R. That means Australia already has owners of the types of vehicles the Nismo Performance Centers are designed to support.
The Australian location also will not be the only Nismo Performance Center in the country. Nissan has already said more centers are coming, although the automaker has not specified how many.
Nissan has nearly 30 Nismo Performance Centers in Japan alone. Japan, however, has a population nearly 100 million greater than Australia.
Could Nismo Open a Center in the U.S.?
A Nismo Performance Center could eventually make its way to the United States, although there is no indication that one is coming soon. Nismo has been active in the U.S. since 2003, initially offering parts rather than complete Nismo-branded vehicles.
The first new Nismo-branded Nissan models reached American lots several years later, beginning with the 2005 Nissan Frontier Nismo and followed by the 2007 350Z Nismo. The U.S. did not receive its first GT-R until 2009.
The U.S. also does not have the same concentration of the vehicles that Nismo specializes in as countries such as Australia and Japan.
More Nismo-Supported Nissans Are Reaching the U.S.
There is another factor that could eventually increase demand for specialized Nismo services in America: many of the older desirable Nissans supported by Nismo can now legally be imported into the U.S.
The earliest R34 GT-Rs became legal to import to the U.S. in the last couple of years. As more of these vehicles enter the country, the number of GT-Rs and other unusual Nismo models from Japan could increase.
GT-Rs are also becoming quite valuable, creating the possibility of owners seeking specialized restoration and other services, even if that means sending a vehicle across the country to a specialist.
Nismo’s Specialty Network Expands Beyond Japan
The opening of the Ferntree Gully Nismo Performance Center gives Nissan’s specialty network its first location outside Japan. With additional Australian centers already planned, Nissan is expanding access to Nismo restoration, maintenance, repair, performance parts and technical expertise in a market with an established GT-R community.
