How Nissan's Patrol will combat the incoming Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series

Nissan Australia’s Patrol upper-large SUV is enjoying a boom in sales, but the incoming Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series is poised to steal its thunder thanks to new powertrains and a fresh look.

Nissan however, isn’t going to let the Toyota LandCruiser trounce its Patrol on the sales charts, and is preparing more hardcore versions of its SUV that will perform better off-road and on it.

First-off the rank for Nissan will be its Premcar-tweaked Patrol Warrior, which was confirmed in late 2019 but has been delayed due to complications surrounding the global pandemic.

Speaking to CarsGuide, Nissan Australia boss Stephen Lester said the Patrol will not simply get cosmetic upgrades, but will be a comprehensive overhaul to boost off-road performance, much like the Navara N-Trek Warrior dual-cab ute was.

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“Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as doing everything with the Navara team, and then just sliding the Patrol piece in right behind it, so it’s going to continue to take a while for us to bring it to market, but we want to make sure that we do it right,” he said.

“To get the Warrior badge, in my mind, is a no compromise version, I think our consumers are too smart … in their understanding that a badge treatment isn’t going to be what they’re expecting.

“We need to make sure that we build it out the right way.”

Mr Lester could not give a timeframe for the Patrol Warrior, but it is expected it will break cover and hit showrooms later this year.

Also on the cards is the Patrol Nismo, which was relegated to the Middle East in previous form, but could make it to Australia with the yet-to-be revealed facelift.

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“We’re open to all opportunities that could be open to us in terms of enhancing the Patrol portfolio,” Mr Lester said.

“We’ve got only two models, it’s not necessarily the case that we’ll be able to get that many more, but a Nismo version of that potentially, a Warrior version of that which I’ve talked about in the past can be great compliments to what is already a fantastic vehicle.”

Nissan Patrol sales increased 44.5 per cent in 2020 (to 2820 units) compared with its result in 2019, thanks in part to overseas travel being off the table and Australians looking to road trips for their holidays.

The Toyota LandCrusier meanwhile, dominates the segment, achieving 15,078 sales last year for 84.2 per cent of the upper-large SUV market.

The new LandCruiser is rumoured to downsize its diesel 4.5-litre diesel V8 engine in favour of six-cylinder engines (in petrol and diesel), possibly with some form of electrification to boost its performance.

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The Patrol however, is powered by a 5.6-litre petrol V8, which is key to its appeal in the local market, according to Mr Lester.

“[V8] certainly doesn’t hurt [Patrol’s appeal]. I think also the off-road capability, the towing capability, the features and position of the vehicle overall show that it’s been an underrated vehicle for a very long time, and we’ve got a lot of very happy Patrol customers out there who have been singing its praises for a long time, and fortunately now, we’re now in a scenario where a lot more customers are coming,” he said.

“Then you marry up the fact that it’s going to be the only in its segment – at least we think anyway – with a V8.

“You know, I haven’t met any Australian that doesn’t like a V8, so it seems like a pretty positive match.”

The Patrol is currently so popular for Nissan that the waiting list for the model, which starts at $78,910 before on-road costs for the Ti grade, has blown out to around August.

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