Nissan will be pushing NISMO parts this year

Expect to see a lot more NISMO this year. Nissan dealerships are likely to begin offering a myriad of performance tuning and aftermarket parts.

Nissan North America will be helping dealers push more performance and motorsports parts to consumers as the company builds its NISMO performance brand in the U.S. and Canada.

Interest levels in the Nissan NISMO brand thanks to the company's return to the American racing circuit, beginning with the Rolex 24 next weekend and the TUDOR inaugural earlier this month. With brand awareness growing for NISMO through the three factory tuned models being offered in the U.S. now (370Z NISMO, GT-R NISMO and Juke NISMO), consumers and performance enthusiasts are going to be looking for those branded accessories.

This won't be limited to just beauty parts like branded floor mats and lame badge swaps. Nissan plans to offer much more, including suspension kits, exhaust system enhancements/replacements, head gaskets, and a lot of other components that dealers can sell and install to both existing and new customers and car buyers.

Most of this is through a more reliable parts marketing system specific to the NISMO catalog. Nissan and Infiniti dealerships can order from that catalog and either stock or purchase on special order for their clientele. Until now, NISMO parts from Japan have not always been easy to get and this system is meant to change that.

Along with this supply chain and dealership boutique and inventory is marketing. With the entrance of Nissan's NISMO into the racing circuit stateside, a new push for NISMO vehicles and (now) parts in media, etc., potential buyers are going to become much more aware of what is available. If the company's partnership with Muscle Milk and Pickett results in wins on the track, which it very likely will, that interest could quickly become a clamor.