Nissan Oz uncertain about new Navara-based SUV

Nissan Australia says it will "think very carefully" before it adds a new off-road wagon – based on the redesigned NP300 Navara ute – to its already extensive SUV line-up.

Not counting its Infiniti premium brand, which will soon increase the number of luxury SUVs in its range to four with the QX80 and QX 30, Nissan already offers seven SUVs in Australia, including the JUKE, X-TRAIL, QASHQAI, Murano, Pathfinder and two Patrol models.

That hasn't stopped the Japanese car-maker developing a hard-core 4x4 wagon based on the new Navara ute, which would be a belated successor for the previous-generation Pathfinder and direct rival to ute-based SUVs like the upcoming Ford Everest, Toyota Fortuner and Mitsubishi Challenger, as well as the Holden Colorado 7 and Isuzu MU-X.

However, Nissan Australia managing director Richard Emery told motoring.com.au there's no guarantee the Navara-based SUV will be sold here.

"There is talk of a wagon version [of the NP300 Navara], but we haven't been offered it yet and we'd have to think very carefully about it," he said.

"It's a very competitive segment. Would it offer incremental opportunities over Pathfinder?"

Launched in 2013, Nissan's latest Pathfinder is a petrol-only seven-seat crossover wagon based on the existing Murano/Maxima platform and imported from the US. It currently finds up to 500 Australian homes a month in the same segment as the dominant Toyota Kluger, Ford Territory, Holden Captiva 7, Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda CX-9 and Kia Sorento.

With the eventual demise of the Y61 Patrol and news that the new Murano (and Maxima) will not be built in right-hand drive or sold in Australia, Nissan's strong-selling SUV range will soon number shrink to five, leaving the Y62 Patrol as its only hard-core 4x4.

Meantime, Toyota's new HiLux-based Fortuner will expand the Japanese giant's top-selling SUV line-up to eight, including the RAV4, FJ Cruiser, Prado, Kluger, 200 Series LandCruiser and LC70 Wagon and Troop Carrier – not including the Lexus NX, RX and LX.

It's unclear what the new Nissan SUV -- which will combine seven seats with the revised ladder frame, new coil-sprung multi-link rear suspension, genuine off-road capability and diesel power of the NP300 ute (pictured) -- will be called, but the Terrano nameplate seems unlikely given it revived the badge for a small crossover wagon in India in 2013.

Nissan's former product chief Andy Palmer first hinted at the development of a rugged new SUV based on the NP300 ute – alongside which it's likely to be built in Thailand -- at last year's New York motor show.