Nissan is hoping Usain Bolt can elevate the image of its 1.58 million yuan ($257,396) flagship GT-R two-door sports coupe in China, according to Reuters.

The Jamaican sprinter, who set the world record of 9.58 seconds for the 100-metre dash in Berlin in 2009, could be seen at media and fan events over the weekend. Events were sponsored by Nissan and Dongfeng Motor Group, the automaker's joint venture partner in China.

"Establishing a brand and a car name cannot be achieved overnight, but with Mr. Bolt's help and starting today, Nissan wants to begin the process of creating a buzz around the GT-R," Hiroshi Tamura, Nissan's chief product strategist for the GT-R and other cars, told Reuters in an interview with Reuters.

Bolt has been the GT-R's "global ambassador" since 2012, but the contract didn't cover China until recently, according to a Nissan spokesman in Beijing.

The Yokohama-based company decided to tap Bolt's help in China in order to address the GT-R's relative image deficiency in the country, according to Reuters.

China's auto market is expected to surpass the U.S. in a couple of years as the world's leading luxury car market.

Nissan and Dongeng Motor sells around 100 GT-R vehicles in China every year, compared to 800 in Japan, and 1,385 in the United States, based to sales numbers from last year, according to Nissan.

Specific sales figures for the GT-R in China have not been disclosed by the automaker yet, according to Reuters.

The GT-R has been a big name among sports-car junkies in Japan, where it is known as the Skyline GT-R. It started becoming more popular in Europe and the U.S. in the late 2000s, when Nissan started exporting the vehicle to those and other markets.

Its popularity increased thanks to the popular car-racing video game Grand Turismo, which featured the GT-R.

See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?