Next‑gen GT‑R will be hybrid

Nissan’s next GT-R is being developed as a hybrid, not a full battery-electric car, with an all-new chassis under the R36 nameplate. (thedrive.com) Ponz Pandikuthira, Nissan North America’s senior vice president and chief planning officer, told The Drive at the 2026 New York Auto Show that the car “has to be” a new vehicle on a new platform. He said the powertrain will be “mostly new,” and reports based on that interview said Nissan is targeting a launch before 2030. (thedrive.com) A hybrid pairs a gasoline engine with electric hardware, so the car can add instant torque from a motor without relying only on a large battery pack. That gives Nissan a way to keep the GT-R’s long-range usability and repeated high-speed performance while cutting emissions compared with a pure gasoline setup. (robbreport.com) Pandikuthira said the next GT-R is expected to keep the basic VR38 engine block from the R35 era, while redesigning major parts around it. Hagerty reported that Nissan is looking at new cylinder heads and pistons rather than carrying over the old powertrain unchanged. (hagerty.com) That marks a shift from Nissan’s earlier electric-car signaling around the badge. At the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, Nissan unveiled the Hyper Force concept, an all-electric high-performance coupe that many observers treated as a preview of a future GT-R direction. (nissan-global.com) Nissan has also been experimenting with electrified GT-R history in public. In 2024, the company published details of an R32 EV project that swapped the original GT-R’s engine for electric drive while keeping the car’s all-wheel-drive character in focus. (nissan-global.com) The timing matters because the R35 GT-R has already ended its run in North America. Nissan said in June 2024 that it was sunsetting the R35 generation with T-spec Takumi and Skyline special editions after a 17-year sales run in the United States. (nissannews.com) Nissan is also in the middle of a broader product reset. On March 26, 2025, the company said it would roll out new and refreshed models and next-generation technologies across fiscal years 2025 and 2026, part of a wider effort to rebuild sales and profitability. (global.nissannews.com) For now, Nissan has not released official R36 specifications, pricing, or a debut date. The clearest timeline in circulation is Pandikuthira’s comment that concrete announcements could come by 2028, with the car arriving before the decade ends. (autocarindia.com)