Can the X-Trail and Pathfinder lead Nissan back to sales success? Why 2023 is a crucial year for Nissan with its refreshed SUV line-up

There’s no nice way to say it - 2022 was a bad year for Nissan.

The once-popular brand took a slide in the sales race, dropping more than 35 per cent of its total volume and plummeting from seventh in overall sales in 2021 to just 12th in ‘22. But there is good reason for Nissan executives to hope for a turnaround in ‘23, thanks to an almost entirely refreshed line-up filling its showrooms.

But first, the bad news. And analysing the sales from ‘22 makes some pretty hard reading if you’re a fan of the brand. Almost every model in the range declined, the only exceptions being the seemingly every-green Patrol and the new Pathfinder. While most models were down, the ones that really hurt Nissan’s bottom line were the Qashqai (sales down 90.6%) and X-Trail (down 42.7%) SUVs and the Navara ute (4x4 sales were down 32.3%). 

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Of course there were obvious reasons for these declines. Both the Qashqai and X-Trail spent most of the year in run-out and the new models only arrived in the final weeks of the year, along with the new Pathfinder. Add to that the supply constraints that continue to impact much of the car industry and it was a formula for a sharp sales drop.

Fortunately for Nissan this year is shaping up to be a very different proposition, with new Qashqai, X-Trail and Pathfinder all now in showrooms and the X-Trail E-Power on the way shortly. These join the just updated 2023 model year Juke, the new Z sports coupe, the Navara (which was heavily facelifted in ‘21) and the ageing-but-updated Leaf electric hatch in what is a fresh range by car company standards.

The Navara and Patrol may be the two oldest members but thanks to the addition of the Premcar-developed Warrior models, both have been made more compelling in recent years to keep up with newer competition.

The Patrol Warrior in particular should give the big four-wheel drive some more attention - and sales - while customers await the arrival of the next-generation model in either late in the year or early in 2024.

There’s big potential for the Pathfinder to give Nissan another strong sales performer after the previous generation model underwhelmed.

But the good news for Nissan is there is already approximately a three-four month wait for Qashqai and X-Trail, which shows demand is high for the new models and bodes well for a big sales bounceback.

There’s also big potential for the Pathfinder to give Nissan another strong sales performer after the previous generation model underwhelmed. This new-generation Pathfinder only arrived in showrooms in the final few months of the year and almost managed to out-sell its entire 2021 numbers in just December.

If the Pathfinder can support the X-Trail, Qashqai and Juke and give Nissan a four-pronged attack on the SUV market then there’s no reason it shouldn’t be able to turn its sales fortunes around in 2023.