Amuse Nissan GT-R at Tsukuba Circuit

There have been many price adjustments by car manufacturers this year due to rising raw material costs as well as rising energy costs. Hyundai announced price increases back in July, and Toyota announced price increases in August to its Prius lineup. Both of these increases were quite minor. For Hyundai it was a 1.8 - 2.0% hike, and for Toyota it was a $688 increase. Earlier this week, Nissan decided to jump on the price-increase wagon by announcing price increases for the GT-R.

The new MSRP for the Nissan GT-R in the US is now $76,840 for the base model and $79,090 for the premium model, an increase of nearly $7,000 from when it was launched. While Nissan may try to classify this as a simple price adjustment to deal with rising steel prices it is quite obvious that is not the entire picture here. Hyundai and Toyota both cited steel prices for their small price increases but somehow the GT-R requires a $7,000 adjustment? Interestingly, the Canadian MSRP remains unchanged at $81,900.

*Update: Nissan Canada has updated their website and the new MSRP for Canadian GT-Rs is now $89,900.

Nissan Press Release:

Nissan today announced an interim price adjustment on the 2009 Nissan GT-R due to increased raw materials costs. The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP)* of $76,840 for the GT-R and $79,090 for the GT-R Premium model are effective immediately. Destination & Handling (D&H) is $1,000. The adjusted prices do not apply to customer orders already in dealer hands prior to September 5. The initial GT-R pricing was established nearly a year ago.

To date, approximately 70 percent of the first year allocation of GT-Rs for the United States market have been sold as part of a pre-sale program that has been underway since February 2008. The first customer deliveries of the limited production Nissan GT-R supercar began on July 7, 2008. The GT-R is available only through officially certified Nissan dealers that have met a number of strict sales, service and facilities commitments, including dedicating a master technician to GT-R service. A searchable listing of the 663 GT-R Certified Nissan dealers is available to consumers on nissanusa.com.

All 2009 Nissan GT-Rs are equipped with a standard 3.8-liter twin turbo V6 producing 480 horsepower and 434 lb-ft of torque, backed by an all-new, paddle-shifted, dual clutch rear transmission and a world’s first independent rear transaxle ATTESA E-TS all-wheel drive system.

In North America, Nissan’s operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010, whose key priorities are reducing CO2emissions, cutting other emissions and increasing recycling. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com