Nissan car unwrapped too early

Nissan USA found itself in the middle of a media firestorm this week when photos of its much-anticipated 2009 Nissan GT-R (known as the Skyline GT-R in Japan) found their way onto the Internet.

It seems that an image of the cover art for the December issue of Motor Trend was inadvertently leaked -- by the magazine’s public relations firm. The firm “was trying to promote a headline touting our SUV of the Year in December and placed the entire cover art out on the wire,” said Angus MacKenzie, the magazine’s editor.

“We did everything in our power to take it down as soon as it was discovered, but by then, it was out there,” he said. “At that point it’s like using a garden hose to put out a forest fire.”

Indeed. Citing the Motor Trend blunder as justification, AutoWeek.com, Edmunds.com and blogs such as Autoblog.com published one-week-early reviews of the car and ran photos too. After all, auto enthusiasts’ anticipation over the iconic Japanese street-racing vehicle has been gaining traction since the late 1990s, when Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s chairman and chief executive, happened to mention the possibility of global availability of the GT-R.

Nissan, having prepared for the GT-R to make a big splash with a global launch at the Tokyo Motor Show on Wednesday, was disappointed that the air has been taken out of the tires on this one. But executives understood.

“The kids couldn’t wait for Christmas,” said Simon Sproule, Nissan’s corporate vice president for global communications, “and snuck downstairs a bit early to open their presents.”

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-- Joni Gray