Nissan heavyweight shapes up

NISSAN has finally given the green light to a new Nissan Patrol to replace the ageing GU model after putting its development on hold for many years.

As we've previously revealed, the redesigned Patrol - leaked internet images of which show a more organic design not dissimilar to Toyota's 200 Series Land Cruiser – is expected to debut globally in the Middle East later this year.

The grille and headlights are similar to those on the new Murano, and the thin vent fitted high on the front guard may serve as the engine air intake.

The window pillars appear exceptionally thin except for the upswept rear-most D-pillars, and the glasshouse follows the design Nissan used in its Terranaut concept it showed in Geneva in 2006.

But the image does give an indication of the size of the new Patrol – but if the 4965mm length, 2150mm height and 2100mm with of the Terranaut concept are anything to go by, the new Patrol will be considerably bigger than the existing GU series.

Nissan has talked about a Patrol replacement for several years, but the winding down of production of its F-Alpha platform vehicles in the US (Armada, Titan and QX56) opens up the possibility of a much larger market to justify the development for the replacement for the ageing GU Patrol, which was first seen in Australia in December 1997.

There are suggestions that the F-Alpha platform used by the defunct Armada will serve as the basis of new Patrol, and that a version of the Armada 5.6-litre V8 petrol and the Renault 3.0 dCi V6 turbo-diesel engines will be used.

According to Nissan Australia public relations manager Jeff Fisher, the Patrol may become a softer vehicle than the existing GU in an attempt to chase the Land Cruiser 200 Series buyer.

“How far we want to take it to be a more versatile 4WD wagon, is the question,” he said.

“Engine configuration, transmission options are going to be decided depending on what local needs are, if we decide to take it up against Cruiser [200 Series] or retain some of that off-road Patrol iconic quality.”

Mr Fisher did not discount the role of a petrol model, despite the recent – and dramatic – drop in appeal of large, petrol SUVs.

“There is still some enquiry on petrol Patrol, it’s not huge but there’s a role for it.”

According to managing director and CEO of Nissan Australia, Dan Thompson: “The timing is still not firm – it won’t be in 2009. It’s important in a brand perspective, but at the end of the day it still isn’t a core model from a volume perspective like Tiida or X-Trail, especially in a shrinking segment.

“But it’s absolutely critical for us from a brand perspective, that’s what Nissan stands for, Patrol really makes a statement for what we’re known for, it’s our heritage.”