Off-road king Nissan Patrol still being evaluated for India - Report

The Nissan Patrol has been under evaluation for five years now. A new report says that the company still hasn’t reached a decision, which is more likely to turn out to be a positive one now.

Nissan knows it needs to bring its A-game now to successfully launch the Magnite (name TBC) sub-4 metre SUV in India, a market where it doesn’t have a single decently selling product right now. Enhancing its brand image is more important than ever now, and launching the Patrol might be a big help in doing that. With the relaxed import norms introduced in 2018, automakers have even more motivation to launch such niche products in the country now.

The current, seventh-gen Nissan Patrol was unveiled back in February 2010. Ten years later, it continues to live on, being too popular in the Middle East to be discontinued. Frame SUVs are having a tough time globally, though, and the volumes are no longer motivating enough for as frequent lifecycle makeovers as monocoque SUVs. That’s the situation at least in the full-size (F) segment.

The Nissan Patrol has been facelifted twice during its lifecycle, and the most recent facelift took place in November 2019. There’s no doubt that this Toyota Land Cruiser rival is quite the looker even though it’s very old under the skin.

Comically, the Nissan Patrol is a petrol-only model now. There’s the VQ40 4.0-litre MPI V6 engine producing 275 HP and 394 Nm of torque and the VK56 5.6-litre GDI V8 engine developing 400 HP and 560 Nm of torque. Both are naturally aspirated units. A 7-speed automatic transmission and a 4WD system with locking rear differential are standard.

The range-topping new Nissan Patrol includes features like Rhombus LED headlights with C-shaped signature light, LED front fog lamps, 20-inch alloy wheels, LED tail lights with sequential turn indicators and LED rear fog lamps on the outside.

Inside, the top-end 2020 Nissan Patrol includes 7-inch colour MID, memory driver seat, power sliding & reclining front passenger seat, power-folding third-row seats, tri-zone automatic climate control and 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and sat-nav (with 3D maps). The full-size SUV also has a second 7-inch (HD) central display, to control the information related to settings, music, phonebook, etc. (via an 'IT Commander' knob next to the gear lever). It boasts a 13-speaker Bose sound system as well.

The report says that the new Nissan Patrol’s price in India will likely be upwards of INR 1.5 crore (presumably ex-showroom). The Toyota Land Cruiser was discontinued in the country at the beginning of the year.

Also Read: Nissan Magnite sub-4 metre SUV to be launched in May

Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com for more Nissan news and other four-wheeler updates.

[Source: autocarindia.com]