It’s been a while since we last heard news about the Nissan Patrol. Sure, there was something about the Warrior model late last year, but Nissan’s flagship SUV has been quiet around the motoring circles lately. But that might change if a report from CarBuzz is true.
According to the American publication, a new Nissan full-size SUV concept will appear by June 2023. However, that concept won’t have a Nissan logo on it. Instead, it will bear an Infiniti badge as the QX80 Monograph concept. But if you know your Nissans, the Infiniti QX80 is the plusher, more luxurious twin of the Patrol.
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With that, the concept might give us a first look at the next-generation Nissan Patrol. The Patrol, as well as the QX80, are well overdue for a major redesign. The current-generation Patrol was first introduced in 2010, making this SUV 13 years old this year. It has received two updates over the years, the first being in 2014, and a second, heavier facelift in 2019. The 2019 revamp took a few years off the SUV, but it’s still the same model underneath.
If we’re expecting an all-new Patrol within a year or two, we might see huge leaps compared to the current model. For starters, some reports from Australian publication Drive suggest that Nissan could drop the 5.6-liter V8 engine in favor of a downsized, twin-turbocharged V6. Also, the mention of the Infiniti concept could mean we’re looking at a true, all-new model instead of a heavily revamped version of the Patrol’s current chassis. Of course, the latter is still a possibility, with the ‘all-new’ Z still riding on the 370Z chassis.
The Nissan Patrol might also receive an electrified powertrain at some point. Nissan recently said that it is developing scalable versions of its e-Power technology and did not rule out its application for pickups and SUVs.
The idea of a full-sized hybrid, ladder-frame SUV isn’t far from reality. Toyota’s other large SUV, the Sequioa, is an example of that. Given the Japanese automaker’s drive towards electrification, it might not be a matter of ‘if’, but rather, ‘when’.
Mind you, the current Patrol still isn't the oldest model in Nissan's global lineup. That honor belongs to the iconic Y61 Patrol that's still on sale today, 26 years after it was first introduced. Now that's one model we wouldn't mind staying the same for much longer.
