Facelifted Nissan Patrol here by year’s end

NISSAN revealed a visual and technological overhaul of its Y62 Patrol upper-large SUV in Abu Dhabi overnight, featuring active safety and multimedia upgrades, modernised front and rear styling and improvements to cabin comfort.

Confirmed to hit Australian showrooms in time for Christmas, this is the first major Patrol update since the model arrived on the Australian market in early 2013, having made its global debut three years prior.

Nissan makes no mention of mechanical changes to the refreshed Patrol’s 298kW/560Nm 5.6-litre V8 petrol engine or seven-speed automatic transmission with low-range transfer case that delivers drive to all four wheels.

Between redesigned LED headlights that each wrap around an extension of the front guards is a deeper, more angular new interpretation of Nissan’s V-motion grille that plunges into a new bumper with large faux air intakes to create a chunkier-looking front end.

The horseshoe-shaped LED graphic is replicated on broader new tail-light clusters, this time enveloping Nissan’s first attempt at scrolling turn signals. A light redesign of the rear bumper subtly echoes the aerodynamic shapes added up front, with slimmer reflectors placed down low.

Apart from the sharper front and rear styling, the interior gains a dual-display multimedia system to replace the outgoing model’s clutter of buttons and introduces smartphone mirroring via Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

It also gains diamond-quilted leather upholstery similar to that of the related Infiniti QX80, hand-stitched leather on the steering wheel and extra insulation against noise and vibration. Nissan also says the air-conditioning system now flows better for quicker cabin cooling.

Safety also takes a step up with pedestrian detection added to the autonomous emergency braking and forward collision warning systems.

Not all these technological upgrades are guaranteed to filter through to the Australian market and Nissan Australia general manager of corporate communications Karla Leach told GoAuto the company was still working through which of the equipment changes would be included.

Ms Leach also acknowledged that prices could rise slightly with the arrival of the facelifted Patrol, which in current form is priced from $72,880 plus on-road costs for the Ti, rising to $89,880 for the Ti-L.

Infiniti’s Patrol-based QX80, in runout since Nissan’s luxury brand announced its departure from the Australian market early this month, offers additional equipment and unique styling at $110,900.

Although there is scope for Nissan to add a third, more highly specified Patrol variant to replace the QX80 in Australia, Ms Leach said the two models appealed to different customers.

Patrol sales are up 47.1 per cent to the end of August on 1356 units, already ahead of the 1259 sold in the full year of 2018, during which the model enjoyed 37.4 per cent year-on-year growth.

For comparison Toyota has sold 9621 LandCruiser 200s year-to-date, up 1.8 per cent, and 13,677 were sold last year (up 6.7 per cent).

Toyota recently dropped the petrol V8 option from its LC200 line-up, creating a bigger like-for-like price gulf between competing models – the bare-bones LandCruiser 200 GX is $4952 more expensive than a more generously equipped Patrol Ti – providing Nissan with an opportunity to poach a few diesel-disliking customers.