Nissan Note Reviews

Nissan is planning to introduce a hybrid version of its smallest SUV sold in Australia. But don’t rush out to your local dealer just yet, because we’re not likely to see a petrol-electric version of the Juke to go up against the Toyota Yaris Cross hybrid before next year at the earliest. There’s even a strong likelihood that Australia may have to wait until the third-generation version of Nissan’s small SUV from Europe surfaces sometime from 2027. According to Nissan Oceania Vice President and Managing Director, Andrew Humberstone, the move to a hybrid powertrain is inevitable given where the market seems to be headed. “Juke, for me, is an interesting one,” he told CarsGuide. “I think we need to look at where we can go with the new technology in the Juke. I think (hybrid) is where the space will be, where it starts to get more traction. What new technology can we bring in there, in terms of managing, you know, the gap between internal combustion engines (ICE) and electric, right? “(But the hybrid) will not come to Australia this year.” Why not, when total industry demand for hybrids in 2024 soared by 76 per cent over the year before, and that growth rate was topped only by a 100.2% leap in sales for plug-in hybrids? The very customer-focused boss of Nissan Australia and former head of Nissan Europe – who has instigated this month’s shock introduction of a dealer-service-activated 10-year/300,000km warranty with “flat” priced capped servicing, transferable and conditionally back-dated to 2021 models – insists that his team remains flexible enough to pivot with evolving buyer preferences. “I think we're seeing (that) in the next two to three years… we need to be very elastic in terms of what we're trying to do,” Humberstone said. “That’s because the market is so fluid. And so, it's really around getting the timing right and not trying to bring something in that’s not fit for purpose, just because we think it's about bringing the right product at the right time and managing customer expectations. “It's a common-sense solution. The question is, at what time (is right)?” In the meantime, Nissan is undertaking more research to fine-tune exactly what type of appetite for hybrid powertrains exist at this end of the SUV market in Australia. “For me, (hybrid) is where we need to look, and we need to understand from our dealer network and customers what kind of scale there is there,” Humberstone added. “To me, that's where the opportunity sits.” Based on the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s CMF-B platform and sharing many components but no body panels (unlike next year’s Mitsubishi ASX) with the second-gen Renault Captur, today’s Juke has only offered an 84kW/180Nm 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine since its 2020 launch in Australia. But, elsewhere, the British-made light SUV has also offered a 105kW/205Nm 1.6-litre four-pot petrol-electric hybrid option courtesy of the Captur since 2022. Not only does it use less fuel compared to the regular turbo petrol version (4.7L/100km versus 6.0L/100km), it shaves 1.7 seconds off the leisurely 11.8s 0-100km/h sprint time. Win-win for buyers. The next-gen Juke, meanwhile, will reportedly use the same ‘AmpR Small’ EV-only architecture as the coming Nissan Micra EV supermini (itself based on the acclaimed new Renault R5 E-Tech), though it is highly likely that ICE and hybrid versions of the small SUV are also under development, as demand for EVs slow in some regions. Whether the latter morphs into a variation of the lower-cost Kicks small SUV program (related to the Juke and sold in more price-sensitive parts of the world since 2015) remains to be seen. A Kicks e-Power EV-first hybrid grade has been available for some time in some markets, including in right-hand-drive Thailand, suggesting that this may be the path Nissan takes for the next-gen Juke. Whatever transpires, it seems certain that the Juke hybrid, or something related to it, has a future in Australia. Aided by freer supply and an update that brought improvements across the range, Juke sales in this country leaped up by one-third over 2023’s results. That said, its 1674 registrations are a far cry from the 18,461 buyers (up 17%) that the bestselling – if ageing – Mazda CX-3 managed, or the 8200 units (up 26%) recorded by the now-hybrid-only Yaris Cross.

Nissan has revealed that the coming, seventh-generation Patrol could be fast-tracked for Australia due to external influences (and some internal favours). While still officially set to launch locally in “late 2026” as per earlier remarks from Nissan executives back at the new Y63 version’s unveiling last September, the long-awaited 4WD wagon could come as soon as by the middle of next year.

A racy all-new grade was launched alongside the facelifted version of the third-gen Qashqai in early 2025, in the shape of the N-Design.

Launched in early 2025, the facelifted version of the third-gen Qashqai saw the Ti-L luxury grade gain Nissan’s EV-first e-Power hybrid option.

Affordable electric cars are an emerging market in Australia - and the timing couldn’t be better.

Launched in early 2025, the facelifted version of the third-generation Qashqai brought a fresh nose, clear tail-lights, revised wheels and a more up-spec interior.

Honda and Nissan simply should not merge. When it was announced that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed last December “for consideration of a business integration between the two companies” was terminated on February 13, many people would have breathed a sigh of relief.

One of Nissan’s oldest nameplates, Pathfinder, may not be long for Australia as we know it, as legislative changes here and abroad determine the car’s future. But the potential replacement looming for our market to better take on the big-selling Ford Everest, Toyota Kluger, Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento in the big three-row SUV segment might be the knockout blow Nissan sorely needs against such tough competition. According to Nissan Oceania Vice President and Managing Director, Andrew Humberstone, the main stumbling block with the existing Pathfinder is around maintaining profitability and competitiveness in the face of looming tariffs in the United States. “Pathfinding is an interesting one because… of what's going to happen with tariffs, the whole Trump effect,” he told CarsGuide. “So where does that leave us, and how do we manage that?” Like its closest competitor, the Kluger (or Highlander, as it is known in North America), the past two generations of Pathfinder have been sourced from the US. That works in the Nissan’s favour post-tariff implementation, but the three-row SUV uses components from Japan, Mexico, China and elsewhere, meaning it is subject to potentially punitive taxes, that in turn makes the vehicle more expensive for Nissan Australia to import. And affordability has been the current model’s biggest bugbear with consumers. With the consistent low volume the Pathfinder delivers, Humberstone believes that the Pathfinder business case as it currently stands may not work moving forward. Last year, Nissan only managed to register 523 units, which represented a 63 per cent decline over 2023’s results of 1400 sales. The latter is still around a third of what the series used to manage a decade ago in Australia. Why? The Pathfinder was severely hamstrung by the unavailability of the base ST and mid-grade ST-L versions that the existing R53 series launched with here in late 2022. This meant that the cheapest version, the Ti, started from over $70,000, instead of under $55,000, where the entry-level alternatives, including Kluger, the Santa Fe and Sorento, commence. “We have opted to streamline the Pathfinder line-up due to unavoidable supply constraints and ongoing disruption in the global production environment,” a company spokesperson said at the time. This situation was only partly rectified mid-year with the return of the ST-L, which currently kicks off from $59,945 before on-road costs, meaning that the old ST remains AWOL. Additionally, the Pathfinder only offers an albeit magnificent V6 petrol engine. This competes against the far-more economical, now hybrid-only Kluger and Santa Fe HEV hybrid, that costs similar money to and less respectively than the ST-L, further eroding the Nissan’s appeal. In fact, with the NVES kicking in from January 1 this year, federal government-mandated fines in the future seem certain for the Pathfinder if things don’t change. Currently it emits an average of 245 grams per kilometre of carbon dioxide, against this year’s 141g/km standard – and the latter figure will fall annually. So, what about the alternatives? The strongest contender currently must surely be the current series’ Chinese fraternal twin, unveiled at the 2023 Auto Shanghai show, built by partner Dongfeng and also badged Pathfinder. In one stroke, this restyled and reengineered version with a sleek fresh look inside and out (while still boasting the same, big dimensions) would address the US R53’s biggest drawbacks – expensive sourcing and a thirsty powertrain, since it instead uses Nissan’s KR20DDET 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine. Producing 185kW of power and 386Nm of torque in Dongfeng spec and driving either the front or all four wheels via a nine-speed torque-converter automatic, in China the combined average fuel consumption figure is 8.6L/100km. That’s nearly 2.0L/100km less than what’s in Australian models today. Note, however, that the latter is also set to replace the V6 in the US Pathfinder soon, so we may see the four-pot turbo arrive in the existing shape in the not-too-distant future. Of course, other contenders may also follow, but these loom largest for Australia right now. According to Humberstone, Nissan has vowed to be more reactive and proactive with future models, giving consumers what they want whilst striving to deliver industry-best aftersales care, to win back buyers. “We need to be very agile in this kind of global economic situation,” he added. To that end, replacing established models with more cost-effective (read: cheaper) solutions from China is not out of the question. “We have a broad range of opportunities, between joint ventures with Chinese manufacturers, between product all over the world,” Humberstone explained. “What we're dealing with at the moment is: what is best for the market today and serves our purpose today, where we have critical mass that works for, number one, the consumer, number two the dealer network and, number three, for us. “Let's see if there's opportunity.” Watch this space.

The ST-L is the second-from-base version of the third-generation Qashqai. It replaced the previous ST+ model when the series underwent a facelift in Australia in early 2025.

The ST is the base version of the third-generation Qashqai launched in Australia right at the end of 2022, and facelifted in early 2025.