Well, the rumour mill is currently in a feroucious state of hysteria and GTR’s are being spotted every other day. Even I shared trackspace with 3 test mule GTR’s a couple of weeks ago at the Nurburgring. So in my anticipation I went to my nearest Nissan dealer which happened to be one of the largest Nissan dealers in the country.
I asked to speak to the dealer principle as I wasn’t prepared to be fed some low level bullcrap by some part time sales trainee who’s mate had a 40,000 HP GTR from a superchip he collected out of a cornflakes packet.
Unfortunately, the dealer principle was not in today, so I was given his phone number which went direct to the voicemail of the person in charge of Brand and Marketing.
Credit to her, I was given a call back later that afternoon. Having described my position as owner of the GTR Register and founding member of the GTR Owners Club, I was then privvy to a collection of glaring errors and dangerous assumptions.
Apparently, the GTR stopped production over 10 years ago (actually, in 2002) and was only sold in a dozen dealerships (actually only one). I was since promised a phonecall but I still have no faith in them as a dealership.
This is Nissan’s biggest problem with the GTR. They currently do not have the capability to migrate into selling a 70k supercar in the same dealership that _shifts Micras day in day out. If they are to succeed, then a splinter organisation must occur, similar to that of BMW and Mini, or Lexus and Toyota, which will allow buyers such as myself to develop confindence enough to walk in with a £10,000 deposit knowing we’ll get the aftersales to match.
Allegedly, 3 orders have already been placed with a £5,000 deposit and they anticipate themselves being a dealership with franchise permissions enough to sell the GTR. Contradictory it seems as conflicting reports indicate no other dealers are taking orders as yet.
It’s no suprise that Nissan did not return my call – although I say Nissan in the loosest possible sense as we’re talking about a franchised network of Nissan dealerships.
Way to go ignoring your target demographic.
Shame to see that even the primary dealership doesn’t have the basic skill to position such a car…
Like you said, they are used to the middle class buyer looking for his X-trail and her Micra… This in my opinion is what killed the NSX, and only the enthousiasm of a few got the old GT-R landed in Europe…
As you pointed out, the infinity brand, and associated dealers, should be brought to Europe to address the premium models, like the FX series, the GT-R, and so on…
Good luck ordering it…
S
Given that the car is more than a year away from European launch, perhaps it´s not surprising the dealer was less than helpful. I´m sure they hqven´t been told anything about the car given it´s high levels of secrecy.
I am sure that once the production version is shown at Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan will be set-up to handle enquiries and people who want to put down a deposit….
Nissan do have an another brand to market their high products (Infiniti) It’s just a shame that they are unable to position that brand in the UK market place. We are too up our own arses to accept that a Japense manufacturer can sit in the same bracket as the Germans. In a recent visit to the states where 1000FT pick up trucks with V10 engines are the norm I spotted an SUV that caught my eye. It wasnt a full blown SUV but more compact. The second time I spotted the same car I had to stop and find out what it was. I liked everything about the car from the long bonnet, the coupe type roofline and the back end. When I got close I realised it was Nissan but marketed as the Infiniti FX 45. Here in the UK we get the Murano. Have a look at the two and see for yourself. I would gladly exchange my X5 for one!!
http://www.infiniti.com/img/fx/photos/exterior_photos/fx_wallpaper_ext_06.jpg
http://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/Murano2005/gallery/gall-photo-main-murano-1.jpg
P
Following on from my post last year about the infiniti FX I saw in the states last year. Well Nissan are bringing it over here. Their timing is impeccable. That said I still love the look of it.
http://www.infiniti.co.uk/fx/photos_and_colours/exterior.html
http://www.infiniti.co.uk/fx/photos_and_colours/interior.html
P