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Nissan to bring Friend-Me concept to Shanghai

Nissan's got a big ol' show planned for its immersive space at the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show where visitors will see, touch, hear and smell the Nissan world. Sitting among 20 offerings that include the GT-R, Quest, Murano and Teana will be the Friend-Me concept (click image above to enlarge), the first show car created with "key input" by Chinese designers at Nissan Design China in Beijing. Its USP is "Four seats, one mind connectivity" that promotes information sharing among all the occupants.
The Friend-Me has the "vibrant, young" Chinese demographic in mind, our guess being Nissan thinks there's no reason to stop the digital sharing just because you're sitting in a car. We'll find out on April 20 exactly what's being exchanged in the Friend-Me. Until then, there's a press release below with a little more info.

Next Nissan GT-R to take cues from GT-R LM Nismo Le Mans entry

For those wondering why Nissan named its coming Le Mans Prototype the GT-R LM Nismo, colliding the two worlds of sports car and prototype racing, an article in Autocar might have the answer. The deeper union is explained by saying that the next-generation GT-R will use "hybrid technology that will closely align it" with the GT-R LM Nismo.
The point could be further driven home by the fact that the GT-R LM Nismo will begin its FIA endurance racing campaign next year, and the next GT-R is due to debut next year as a 2016 model. The expectation is that it will use a hybrid system possibly dubbed R-Hybrid and perhaps developed by Williams. Just like performance car makers Ferrari and Audi, Nissan wants its racing efforts to pay off with road car technology, company vice president Andy Palmer saying they "want to link technological linkages between future evolutions of the GT-R and evolutions of what we do in LMP1, and the two do go in both directions."
The bigger question is, with the GT-R getting hybrid assistance, will it also get the weight gain that usually comes with it? Enthusiasts would love to see the trend reversed, especially on a car that's already no lightweight.

Meet Sparky, Nissan's Leaf-based, Frontier-bedded EV parts hauler [w/video]

For many enthusiasts, the concept of the ute - a car with a pickup bed - is somehow irresistibly appealing. On paper, it promises the marriage of a truck's utility and a car's superior driving dynamics, and for that reason alone, we'd love to see more of them. Yet while other parts of the world get them in good numbers, North America doesn't ever see them - at least not for long. Based on what we've seen of late, though, that's not due to a lack of motivation on the part of engineers.
BMW wowed us several years ago with an M3 ute, and earlier this year, some interns converted a Mini Paceman into the pickup-bodied Paceman Adventure. Loathe to let their rivals in Munich and Oxford have all the fun, Nissan has built its very own car-based pickup. Meet Sparky, the world's first Leaf Frontier.
Like the M3, this all-electric ute is used as a parts hauler for Nissan's engineering teams at its sprawling Stanfield, AZ tech center and proving grounds.