In an interview with Britain’s Tog Gear, Nissan executives confirmed what we’ve been saying for months: the all-new for 2016 Nissan R36 GTR supercar will be a hybrid, and it will be even faster than the current car.

“When the R35 launched in 2009 it was a massive leap forward, and we need to make sure when the next generation comes, it’s a similar leap forward. Not just the car itself, but the overall effect for Nissan,” said Nissan UK’s sports car chief, James Oliver. “I think (a GTR hybrid) is the obvious direction,” Oliver told Top Gear. “There’s been obsessive development of the GTR over the years, and at some point we will move onto the next generation car … and, at Nissan, we’ve got great expertise and investment of electric.”

The R36 GTR is expected to use a version of the 550 HP hybrid power unit shown in the Infiniti Q80 concept that debuted earlier this month. That model introduced featured a drive train consisting of a twin-turbocharged 3.0L V6 paired to a powerful electric motor. According to Infiniti officials at the Paris unveiling of the Q80, “the new engine offers a precursor to a family of engines that will be introduced to the (Nissan and) Infiniti portfolio(s) within the next two years,” which- you’ll notice- would be just in time for the launch of the 2016 R36 GTR.

When asked about the appearance of the new R36 GTR, Oliver reportedly pointed to Nissan’s Vision 2020 Concept for the Gran Turismo 6 racing game (below), describing it as a “design study” for the new car. That said, I think TopSpeed’s renderings from last year (shown, below below) are a much more likely R36 design direction.

Nissan GTR Vision 2020 Design Study

Nissan R36 GTR Rendered by TopSpeed