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Nissan applies for 'R-Hybrid' trademark, but what is it for?

Patent and trademark filings are sort of like tasseography for those of us in the auto industry. If you know where and how to look at something, there's a lot to be figured out. Take this trademark filing from Nissan - it's similar to the Pure Drive badge found on a Versa or Sentra, but the bottom half sports the phrase "R-Hybrid." This wouldn't be remarkable if the "R" in R-Hybrid weren't the same style as the "R" in the Nissan GT-R's badge, right down to the serifs.
While it's easy to see this as grasping at straws, it makes a fair degree of sense. The R35 GT-R may be a dominant performance machine, but it's been around since 2008, which is donkey years in the automotive industry. And based on the recent crop of hybridized hypercars and racecars, a hybrid GT-R doesn't seem like such a stretch.
As Car And Driver points out, figuring out that the GT-R will go hybrid isn't hard - figuring out when it will arrive, is. The buff book rightly points out that a new GT-R isn't expected until 2017, but that designing and trademarking a badge four years ahead of time is a bit odd. Car and Driver speculates that we could see a mildly hybridized R35, although the chances do seem remarkably low. Head over to C/D for a more thorough rundown on why this just might be a GT-R badge, including comparisons with other R-badged Nissans.

Nissan 370Z Nismo freshening coming tomorrow

Nissan is set to bring a special to the Fairlady faithful at the annual ZDAYZ fest. Based on the sole teaser and the event it's being unveiled at, it's pretty clear that Nissan is going to be issuing some kind of update to the Nismo version of its 370Z.
What that update is, though, is unclear. We can see a few small visual tweaks, like the horizontal LED running lights and their associated vertical vent. The grille looks reformed as well. Beyond that, though, it looks like we're stuck waiting for the full details until tomorrow afternoon. Until then, take a look below for the world's shortest press release.

Nissan Leaf's lead over Renault Zoe narrows in Europe

The Nissan Leaf has seen its sales steadily decline in the US for a while now. Here, its been eclipsed by the second-generation Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in while people await the next-generation version of the all-electric Leaf. The EV may be starting to receive a similar response across the Pond. While the Leaf remains Europe's biggest-selling EV, that lead is eroding, as sales of the Renault Zoe are catching up, according to the European Alternative Fuels Observatory (EAFO). It's a good thing Nissan and Renault are sister companies. Through May, Nissan sold about 9,500 Leaf vehicles in Europe. The good news is that number is up 37 percent from a year earlier. There's disconcerting news, too, and that is that the Renault Zoe's sales have surged 60 percent this year to almost 9,400 units. So, for all we know, the Zoe may have caught up with the Leaf last month. Still, both models are outpacing demand for the Tesla Model S and Volkswagen e-Golf: the former's sales are little-changed this year, while the latter model's sales have dropped 34 percent. The BMW i3, Kia Soul EV, and Mercedes-Benz B250e all have had higher sales this year. As for plug-in hybrids, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has maintained its substantial European lead, almost doubling sales of the Volkswagen Golf GTE and totaling almost 9,400 units sold through May. Meanwhile, the new Volvo XC90 PHEV has leapfrogged models such as the Volkswagen Passat GTE, Mercedes-Benz C350e, and Audi A3 e-Tron into third place behind the Mitsubishi and VW. Here in the US, Nissan Leaf sales through June fell 41 percent from a year earlier to about 5,800 units, while Chevrolet Volt sales have surged 75 percent to 9,808 units. Featured Gallery 2016 Nissan Leaf View 30 Photos News Source: EAFO, Getty via Green Car Reports Green Nissan Renault Electric ev sales zoe