In a leaked internal company wide memo today Nissan Australia has called upon all staff to keep a lookout for “intelligence” relating to the sales activity of so called grey imports of R35 GT-R’s into Australia. Nissan Company Secretary Colin Buckley has even go so far as to setup an email address and reward offering for any intelligence leading to the stopping of “potential damage” and “stolen customers”.

The memo also mentions that the window of opportunity for grey imports will close as soon as Nissan Australia secures full volume certification which they expect by early 2009.

While we appreciate a large influx of GT-R’s would adversely affect Nissan Australia’s sales of the car there is another side to the situation they seem to be missing. The grey import cars already in the country are drumming up exceptional amounts of free advertising for Nissan. Something their marketing department must be having great difficulty harnessing as they have made no public announcements of support for these cars. Will Nissan be there when the Donut King crosses the finish line of Targa Tasmania 2008? Will they kick themselves for not even offering a token sponsorship for what is the GT-R’s motor racing debut this side of the world?

With the first Australian road registered grey import GT-R expected before the end of the month Nissan Australia has yet to announce pricing to the motoring enthusiast community for the Australian delivered model. Many of who are expecting to pay up to a massive $150,000 AUD+ ($140kUSD) for the car. Compared to the cost of the car in overseas markets it isn’t hard to see why some punters are taking a more DIY approach to getting their hands on one.

Can’t wait to see how the grey imports vs. Nissan Australia thing plays out over the coming weeks