Nissan PlayStation GT Academy launched in India

NEW DELHI: Japanese car maker Nissan and Sony's PlayStation today launched GT Academy, a driver discovery and development programme, in India.

The Nissan PlayStation GT Academy, which operates in various countries including Russia and the US, will choose six contestants from India to participate in the International Race Camp at Silverstone in the UK.

Nissan and Sony held the first GT Academy in 2008. The academy takes people who are good at video games and turns them into professional drivers, according to Nissan's US website.

"We are delighted to launch GT Academy in India; bringing the programme here reinforces our commitment to growing the Nissan brand and developing relationships with both existing and potential customers," Matthew De La Haye, Nissan's Vice President for Communications in Africa, Middle East, India and Europe, told reporters here.

Racing enthusiasts in the country will be able to take part in the programme's live events at malls in Delhi (NCR), Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai as well as online, he added.

The inaugural round of the competition will be held on February 6 at the Delhi Auto Expo.

"For many reasons, having India join the GT Academy programme has been a long-held personal objective of mine and I'm proud that it has now come to fruition," Nissan Director of Global Motorsports Darren Cox said.

Nissan, which is present in India through a fully owned subsidiary, currently sells five models in the country.