Just like every crustacean eventually evolves into a crab, every automotive nameplate is fated to become a crossover. It even happened to the esteemed Toyota Crown, and it now seems to be happening to the Nissan Skyline. That’s what rumors as of late have suggested, and thanks to a newly released video from Nissan, we may have just gotten our first peek.
The shadowed SUV in question was briefly shown in a video touting Nissan’s midterm business plan, which it calls The Arc. One particular vehicle, third to stage-right, stands out with quadruple circular taillights that are emblematic of the Skyline (and separate GT-R). Though it’s only visible in poor light, the vehicle is suggested by its side profile to be a high-riding crossover with a sloping coupe roofline. That would seem to suggest the Skyline is becoming a coupe-over, just like the BMW X6.
The Skyline’s metamorphosis into an SUV was foretold in Japanese media, which had both good and bad news of the coming crossover. Apparently, the Skyline SUV will make more than 450 horsepower and have all-wheel drive, putting it on similar ground to the early R35 GT-R. It’ll also apparently be sold in North America—though that’s where the bad news begins.
That’s because it might not be called a Skyline, but rebadged as an Infiniti as the brand tries its damnedest to earn its continued existence. Of course, Nissan’s sold the Skyline in the U.S. before as the Infiniti G35, G37, Q40, Q50, and Q60; even the QX50 was known as the Skyline Crossover in its home market.
All indicators point to the new Skyline SUV being electric, with the Ariya platform reportedly being its basis. Not the most exciting starting point, but worse cars have been made fun to drive. The video does mention “diverse powertrains” across Nissan’s future range, but of course it’s much too early to tell how that will impact the various silhouettes in this teaser, let alone this Skyline-inspired crossover.
No matter how you feel about the prospect of a Skyline SUV, it seems like it’ll be one of the seven new models coming to North America by Spring 2027. Nissan says it’s working on improved battery chemistry to make its EVs more affordable. All we know for certain is that plenty of people would be less than thrilled to see the Skyline become both an SUV and an EV. But will those people be the ones showing up with money at Nissan dealers? Only the company itself can say with any certainty, and it might just chalk up the vocal nos to a minority.
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