The Nissan GT-R just became available for pre-order in the UK but, like every other market where the GT-R is available, there is already a long waiting line to get behind the wheel of Nissan’s newest supercar. Nissan dealers began taking pre-orders on April 2 and, within 48 hours, had already sold 700 vehicles.
The fact that 700 people would plunk down £3,500 ($7,000) in 48 hours to reserve a GT-R is pretty impressive considering Nissan won’t begin delivering the vehicles until March 2009 and that in the UK the GT-R retails for £52,900 ($105,000).
“The dealer order line lit-up on the 2 April with an unprecedented amount of orders being placed. This clearly demonstrates the UK’s passion for performance cars and the enthusiastic following that the GT-R has established,” said Paul Willcox, Managing Director Nissan Motor (GB) Limited.
Willcox also says that demand is so strong in the UK that he is already in negotiations with Nissan Europe to get a larger allocation of the supercar.
04/08, 12:39 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
My mid-life crisis car!
04/08, 1:17 PM
posted by:
sunshine1810
I am sure the GT-R is a great performance car which is why so many people want this car but it is fairly ugly. Even though the Audi R8 is more expensive and slower, I would buy that car over the Nissan GT-R in a heartbeat.
04/08, 1:48 PM
posted by:
LaCaLover
Many of the UK buyers will be speculators hoping to sell their place in the line at a profit or flip the car for a profit (they hope) soon after taking delivery.
04/08, 1:50 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
If so, I hope the same thing happens to them as happened to the house “flippers.”
04/08, 2:14 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
It’s quite common in business aviation for interested parties to put deposits on new aircraft just to hold that position in the assembly order. They buy an early serial number and wait to see what the demand is going to be. If it works in their favor a buyer will come along who isn’t willing to wait for the next available serial number according to the manufacturer, and pay them more than the original deposit price in order to get that position.
Pretty sure we’ve got the same thing going on here.
04/08, 2:31 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
…or what LaCaLover said.
04/08, 5:44 PM
posted by:
F3INT))AP3X
They would need to sell their places in line because if I remember correctly there was an article a little while back that said Nissan was going to void warranties on cars sold by speculators, but I forget the specifics.
04/09, 3:38 AM
posted by:
Ray Sinclair
I know people would want to shoot me for saying this, but from a business standpoint, why is Nissan selling this car for so cheap in the states? If they’re going to sell every single one allocated to come here-why not get what you could get and make it as profitable as it could be. Real world conditions being where they are, an extra 30 grand per GTR would offset 6 Titans sold with $ 5000 in rebates on ‘em. I don’t know how many GTR’s they’re planning on selling…let’s say 5000-that’s a whole lot of cash. 150 million, anyone? That money will be made alright-by the a$$hole dealerships. Sort of the same reasoning why I don’t think Ferrari should make an entry level car-waiting lists are a great thing, boys and girls. Just because a company is doing fine today doesn’t mean tomorrow will be as bright. You’ve got to make hay while the sun shines, and if you can sell this thing for more-you should do it-for the financial well-being of your company.
04/09, 7:06 AM
posted by:
JohnnyBlazE
Weak dolla
04/17, 8:54 PM
posted by:
bigp
that car kicks ass,but i will not pay 2 times what it is listed for.