New Nissan Pathfinder aims to boost sales

The Koreans starred, the Japanese mounted a comeback, and One Ford hit the headlines with an extended family of Focus-based newcomers that it is certain to make a big hit in Australia. But it was one car and the commitment of its company chief that made the most impact as America fought back on the opening day of the 2011 North American International Motor Show.

The SUV's family friendly focus will be expected to deliver around 10,000 sales a year when it arrives mid 2013 to take on the Ford Territory and Toyota Kluger.

That's almost a fourfold increase on the existing sales but one Nissan Australia head Dan Thompson says from week's Detroit Motor Show is a realistic target.

Thompson says the seven-seat Pathfinder won't compete with the five-seat Nissan Murano simply because they appeal to different types of buyers.

"They are quite different product propositions. One is very much is a family vehicle; Murano is either post-family or pre-family ... we see in Australia Murano remaining to be a brand car or a niche product, whereas we see Pathfinder being a very significant product for us.

"When we launch Pathfinder in Australia clearly we will go up against Kluger and Territory. Both unibody, both monocoque both doing about 10,000-plus sales a year, so that's the space we want to be in with Pathfinder.

The next-gen will have multiple drivetrains, we will also introduce two-wheel drive to get more breadth in the line-up and we want to compete right at the top of the medium SUV segment."

The new car will boast more interior features and entertainment options to satisfy families who rely on the vehicle as a people-mover happy but Nissan product chief Andy Palmer is adamant the refinements and monocoque chassis won't be at the expense of the Pathfinder's off-road or towing ability.

"The big news is 227kg of weight reduction means something in the vicinity of 25 per cent better fuel consumption," Palmer says of the move away from the ladder-chassis design.

"The off-road capability won't be diminished ... as will be completely apparent when you drive the car."

Nissan has yet to officially announce which powertrains will drive the next-gen Pathfinder beyond the 3.5-litre V6 and continuously variable transmission fitted to the concept car shown at this week's Detroit Motor Show.

The engine will be the same VQ series mill already fitted to the Infiniti JX, though with a different tune - expect around 195kW.

The upmarket exterior look is dominated at the front by the flat horizontal headlight clusters framing a tapered chrome grille. The look is partly dictated by the desire to improve aerodaynamics - Nissan says the Pathfinder will cut through the air as well as anything in its class.

Locked doors and blacked-out windows on the concept car shows Nissan is still working on the interior details but the company says the new three-row seating configuration will have more options with increased room for passengers and cargo.