Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo 300ZX, the turbocharged VG30ET V6. Although the engine block was similar, the GTP ZX-Turbo's engine was extensively modified to cope with the stress of racing. In 1984, Nissan Motors named Electramotive Engineering as their official North American racing development arm in an attempt to establish Nissan in the United States following the use of the Datsun name. Nissan wished to use the IMSA GT Championship as a way of showcasing their technology, similar to what they had done at the 24 Hours of Le Mans beginning in 1983. Electramotive would be tasked with maintaining, modifying, and racing the cars. Nissan
Automotive Energy Supply Corporation a further ¥100 billion ($1.1 billion) in AESC, establishing an additional factory to increase capacity for around 200,000 vehicles per year. Trial production at Zama began mid 2009. In 2010 the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle began production, using batteries from AESC. In 2014 AESC was the second largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer worldwide (after Panasonic), with 21% of the market. In late 2014 Reuters reported conflict within the Nissan / Renault carmaker alliance over sourcing of battery packs for its Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK and Nissan Smyrna assembly plant (USA) car battery plants due to lack of price competitiveness with