We here at PASMAG don’t particularly enjoy discussing the demise of sports cars, but sadly there have been a bunch of them recently. From the Nissan GT-R, and the Lexus RC to the forthcoming end of the line for the Toyota Supra, it’s a bleak time for some of our favorite two-doors.
But some rays of light break through the clouds every now and then. While a lot of what we’ve been discussing here lately is based largely on rumor and speculation, some of it, like Toyota’s recent reveal of a new GR Corolla development vehicle, has been confirmed by the manufacturers. So, there’s some hope for new performance cars on the horizon.
Which brings us to the subject of today’s story, which sounds pretty tantalizing. On the surface, at least. This news comes from The Drive, who spoke with a Nissan Americas executive a few weeks back at the New York Auto Show.
During the interview, the executive, Ponz Pandikuthira, who is the Senior Vice President and Chief Planning Officer for Nissan North America, told The Drive that Nissan and Honda are engaged in talks to potentially collaborate on next-gen supercars. Both companies plan to build next-gen versions of the Honda (Acura) NSX and Nissan GT-R, but Pandikuthira suggested the latter could be co-developed alongside the former.
What also fuels speculation is the strategic partnership agreement both companies signed last summer, which would see them work together on future products. What those products will be remains unknown, but Pandikuthira said talks concerning, “joining forces on specific projects is still very much alive,” according to The Drive.
Before going any further, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Honda and Nissan were in merger talks for a while before those efforts collapsed in February. How the alleged supercar co-development discussions have been impacted by the failed merger talks, if at all, is hard to gauge.
But Pandikuthira says the two companies have been talking throughout. He said it’s vital for Nissan, telling The Drive, “We need collaboration. We’re going to need partnerships to deliver vehicles. I think partnerships are going to be a key part of our future.”
So, what do we know about the next-gen NSX and GT-R?
Not much. Honda, which wasn’t quoted in The Drive story, has said a new NSX-type supercar is coming, and that it will likely be an EV, although that hasn’t been confirmed. A Honda Motor executive publicly stated last summer that while a new electric Honda sports car is coming, it might carry a different name. Could the NSX be something else? We don’t know yet, but the exec did say the electric sports car would not use solid state battery tech because it won’t be ready in time.
The second-gen NSX, which was a gas-electric hybrid, ended production in 2022. Nearing the end of its run, it was selling just over 100 units a year in the U.S, but it spiked to 298 in 2022. The GT-R didn’t fare any better, with just 267 units sold stateside in 2024, its final year of production.
As for a new GT-R, well Nissan teased what a new model might look like when it unveiled the Hyper Force Concept at the Tokyo Mobility Show in 2023. That reveal felt more like a design exercise, as no powertrain information was revealed.
Pandikuthira told The Drive in a previous article that he expects the next-gen GT-R to arrive in three to five years with some form of electrification. It will likely be a hybrid, or plug-in hybrid with a turbo engine. A full EV was being considered, but that option is no longer on the table according to The Drive.
Pandikuthira also stressed that nothing had been confirmed, but he was merely pointing out that co-development is possible, even if the cars differ significantly in terms of powertrains, design, and technology.
I’ll add that other factors could come into play, such as production location and tariffs. The second-gen NSX was built at Honda’s Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Ohio, while the R35 GT-R was built in Japan. Would these cars be built in a shared plant, like the BRZ-86 twins, or the current-gen Supra and BMW Z4?
Might Honda and Nissan choose to build them at Honda’s PMC to avoid any U.S. tariffs that may still be in place at decade’s end when these cars might arrive? It’s possible. Given how low volume both cars are, and how important the U.S. market will likely be for both, if Honda and Nissan want to keep the MSRPs from becoming truly stratospheric they might want to consider a U.S. assembly site.
But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves here.
The NSX and GT-R are glorious supercars, and the fact that they will be returning is a great thing. Regardless of how they’re developed, which technology they share, or where they’re assembled.
Photos courtesy of Honda and Nissan
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