Nissan Patrol supplies boosted

Australian Nissan Patrol buyers frustrated by long waiting times to take delivery of their vehicle finally have some good news.

Nissan overnight confirmed to its Australian outpost’s new managing director Adam Paterson that supply will be ramped up from December production.

That means local orders made by late November will now be delivered before the end of March 2022.

Previously, Nissan Australia had been unable to confirm delivery times to dealers and customers, who are ordering the flagship 4x4 wagon in record numbers.

“[Patrol supply] is definitely rebounding as of next month,” Paterson told carsales. “We will have our best month of production in the month of December in a long time.

“That was confirmed last night. Quarter one of 2022 looks much stronger than the last few months.”

The Patrol turnaround in production was attributed by Paterson to a “slightly” improving availability of semi-conductors and recognition in Japan of the surging demand and wait-list for the vehicle in Australia.

Paterson wouldn’t reveal the exact order bank for Patrol but did say it was “four digits” and that it would be “settled” by the end of the Japanese fiscal year, which is March 31, 2022.

The semi-conductor shortage has impacted the automotive industry globally, with many brands deleting equipment from model lines to keep them running.

Paterson said Nissan had avoided equipment deletions, but supply of all model lines had been affected in some way.

He said the high-end 2021 Nissan Navara PRO-4X dual-cab 4x4 ute launched earlier this year had been impacted.

The rollout of four new models in 2022 including the popular Nissan QASHQAI and X-TRAIL SUVs had also been impacted.

“Semiconductor is affecting our in-market vehicles and is also affecting the arrival of new models arriving into the line-up,” he said.