Nismo performance arm to help drive Nissan Australia recovery

The announcement of the first Nismo Performance Centre in Australia is set to play a major role in Nissan’s recovery plans as the brand looks to rebound globally and reverse declining sales locally.

Nismo global president and famed engineer Yutaka Sanada announced the Nismo Performance Centre Melbourne will open by the end of 2026 as one of the first sites of its kind outside Japan.

The move, which taps into Nismo’s racing and performance-car heritage dating back to 1984 as well as Nissan’s broader motorsport history, forms part of a “multi-phase” global expansion of the brand.

It comes after Nissan posted massive losses in fiscal year 2025, alongside a 5.9 per cent sales decline. In May 2025, after reporting huge losses for fiscal year 2024, Nissan also announced significant staff cuts and plans to close seven production plants.

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This also included a significant 21.6 per cent sales slide in Australia, which has continued into 2026.

Yet the Nismo chief said it was not contradictory to continue developing the performance division while the wider company rebuilds itself.

“I think this is the best timing for Nissan to do this activity,” Sanada-san said when asked by CarExpert about the difficult period faced by Nismo’s parent company.

“Frankly, this activity is, of course, for business, but at the same time is a significant contribution to the Nissan brand itself,” the Nismo boss added, pointing to some of the brand’s iconic performance models.

“Why not to use [Nismo] not just for the business, but as a reminder to our customers Nissan can do this type of thing – so that’s the reason it’s not conflicting with Nissan overall.”

While the Nissan Z Nismo is currently the only Nismo-badged model sold in Australia, overseas markets also offer Nismo versions of the Nissan Patrol, X-Trail and Ariya.

Alongside the Note Aura Nismo hatchback – also not offered in Australia – Nismo variants account for double-digit percentages of their respective nameplates' sales.

The Note Aura Nismo leads the way with around 20 per cent of all Note sales, while in Australia the Z Nismo contributes about 10 per cent of total Z sales.

“Our contribution to Nissan is not small,” Sanada-san explained.

By 2028, Nissan – through Nissan Motorsports & Customizing Co (NMC), which combines Nismo and the Autech parts brand under one umbrella – plans to expand to 10 Nismo models globally.

This is expected to help increase overseas business from 40 per cent to 60 per cent of total operations, while boosting revenue from ¥500 billion (A$4.4 billion) to ¥1.2 trillion (A$10.6 billion) by 2032.

The Nismo Performance Centre Melbourne will be followed by another site in Sydney, while studies are underway for locations in Adelaide, Brisbane and Auckland, New Zealand.

No additional Nismo models have yet been confirmed for Australia.

“On top of being a business opportunity that we're not capturing today, will it sell us more base Qashqais tomorrow? I don't know. But it's a good thing,” Nissan Oceania managing director Steve Milette told CarExpert.

“It's a parts opportunity, it is engagement with your customers opportunity, and so anytime you can engage with loyalists, it's a good thing.

“This is all about brand building on top of the business opportunity and meeting the customer where they're at.

“Other OEMs [original equipment manufacturers, i.e. automakers] who've come to this country in the last few years, they can't do this, they don't have the heritage, they don't have the passion.

“We do, it's time for us to leverage this, because it actually helps us continue developing our brand.”

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