Nissan has been working to wake Godzilla from its deep slumber in the ocean depths. Unfortunately, this Godzilla doesn’t wake up when it senses political unrest, wars, and a crap economy, ready to terrorize the streets. This Godzilla just goes back to sleep. If you haven’t guessed, we’re talking about the Godzilla of the Nissan GT-R variety, and it’s scared of entering the United States.
I guess it’s like the real Godzilla in that sense: it wants to remain in Japan.
First reported by The Drive, Senior Vice President of Nissan North America, Ponz Pandikuthira, said that the uncertainty in U.S. politics has significantly slowed the development of the next-generation GT-R.
Why is the next-generation GT-R delayed?
The current generation of the GT-R is not available in the United States largely because it couldn’t meet strict emissions regulations. Pandikuthira noted that Nissan would have needed to “choke the powertrain” to make it compatible, and the brand wasn’t willing to compromise on the GT-R’s performance.
However, the Trump Administration has “backed off on a lot of regulations” that previously forced the GT-R out of the United States. In February 2026, EPA legislation was repealed, including the removal of some emissions regulations. This had domestic automakers wondering if sedans were back on the table. It also had Nissan excited for the GT-R. However, things just don’t feel very consistent or clear.
“What we want to do is future-proof the next-generation GT-R so that it can have a really long life and keep evolving over its lifecycle. But the unknown, the big unknown, is which way are emissions regulations going to go? We currently have a reprieve with the current administration. They’ve backed off on a lot of the regulations. And so there are many things we can do today, but we don’t know if we can do them maybe post ’28 or post ’32. And so that’s what’s actually slowing down the development of what we want this car to be,” Pandikuthira said.
It should be noted that Nissan wants to bring the GT-R back. There is a team working on making it possible over in Japan. Production has begun on the hybrid, which keeps the R35’s VR38 engine. However, Nissan is aiming to arrive in three to five years, meaning production isn’t in full swing just yet. By 2028, Pandikuthira hopes the team will better understand the United States’ administration changes and what they will mean for emissions regulations and safety standards. This will be when they can solidify any plans for the GT-R.
While the wait will be tough, at least this confirms it won’t be electric. Going hybrid won’t impact the GT-R too much. It was already just shy of 4,000 pounds, so being a bit heavier won’t impact its handling and performance.
“The starting point and goal should always be to bring a smile to the customer’s face, to deliver true driving pleasure,” R35’s Chief Product Specialist, Hiroshi Tamura, said. “I tell people to be patient, we had a gap of 17 years between the [second generation] and R32, but Nissan never gave up on the GT-R.”
Getting a high-performance beast like the Godzilla would be a massive W for the United States, since we’ve been missing out on a lot of fun vehicles getting released elsewhere. Nissan has been announcing banger after banger, admitting that some of its previous decisions undermined what it really wants to focus on:
