What Happened to the Nissan Patrol Diesel?

When you think about a new Nissan Patrol, you may imagine a tough go anywhere vehicle that is powered by a diesel engine. However, upon closer inspection, you may notice that the only vehicles like this are older models that are using our roads. There is a good reason for this, in short, the Nissan Patrol diesel isn’t available anymore. Let’s take a closer look at the current state of the Patrol to understand better what’s going on.

The Y62 Nissan Patrol

The current Nissan Patrol is the Y62 model, and it comes supplied with a very powerful 5.8L V8 petrol engine. Given the current cost of petrol, it should come as no surprise that the market for this car in Australia is pretty limited at the moment. Many drivers love the in line diesel models that were mated perfectly with a manual gearbox. Sadly, these Patrol models were part of the Y61 generation, and they were phased out when the new Y62 generation was released. To be fair to Nissan, the Y61 had been in constant production for 19 years before they were discontinued here back in 2016.

How Things Have Changed

Around 20 years ago after the Nissan Patrol Y61 launch, it was selling more than 900 units in Australia every single month. This equated to annual sales in excess of 10,000 units. Sadly, the current Y62 Patrol only sells under 90 units each month, and this equated to sales of just over 1,000 units last year. So, the inevitable next question for most people would be "why would Nissan discontinue the diesel Patrol if it was so popular?" and this will be answered below.

Australian Car Demands are Different

Here in Australia, we have very different demands that need to be satisfied by our cars. Australia is quite a small car market to begin with, and we have geographical factors that can limit the success of a car here. The Patrol Y61 discontinuation was actually delayed for many years purely to supply vehicles to the Australian market. The new Y62 Patrol was designed to meet the needs of the American market, and there it’s known as the Nissan Armada. Even today, there is a market for larger luxury specification vehicles that are equipped with a big petrol engine in America.

Nissan Australia Objections

Nissan Australia argued extensively for a Y62 variant that would be powered by a diesel engine. This would have been an ideal solution to the problem and made the Patrol a continuing success here. Sadly, Nissan couldn’t make the lower volume figures work as a worthwhile proposition, and they would need an entirely new engine to power the 3 tonne Y62 Patrol SUV. This situation is not likely to change any time soon, but the new Nissan Terra diesel SUV could be a good alternative if Nissan decides to release it here.

If you’re looking to buy a Nissan Patrol 2018 model, get in touch with Perth City Nissan, and we will be happy to arrange a no obligation test drive for you.

Daniel N is a writer across several reputed industrial web posts. He writes for many online journals and portals that are related to Nissan car dealers.