Nissan Patrol NISMO a hot chance for Oz

Initially thought to be a non-starter for Australia, the case is now building for the new 2021 Nissan Patrol NISMO to be sold Down Under, based on the words of the brand’s local boss Stephen Lester.

“For a little bit of time now we’ve been in some talks to discuss what that would look like in terms of bringing it to Australia,” he said.

“But nothing to confirm on that [yet].”

While work has been continuing on a localised off-road-oriented Nissan Patrol Warrior – a co-production between Nissan Australia and Melbourne-based engineering firm Premcar that has been hampered by delays – Lester admitted this week at the launch of the new Nissan LEAF e+ that the Nissan Patrol NISMO was definitely on the company’s wish list as a performance flagship.

“It’s an interest, yeah,” he said.

The new Nissan Patrol NISMO was officially unveiled in Dubai earlier this month, after being spotted in the Middle East just days prior to its launch.

The Patrol’s 5.6-litre V8 petrol engine receives a power hike of 17kW, raising output to 317kW, while Nissan engineers have also tweaked the chassis with the fitment of Bilstein dampers.

The cabin has had a thorough going-over with carbon-fibre and Alcantara specified, along with a 13-speaker Bose audio system.

Offering both the high-performance Nissan Patrol NISMO and the mighty mountaineering Nissan Patrol Warrior would give the Japanese brand a fresh two-pronged attack against the incoming 2021 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, which was exposed in full for the first time today and is due to make its world debut in August.