Nissan Patrol Warrior flips to 2022

The Australian-developed Nissan Patrol Warrior is unlikely to be seen before 2022.

The co-production between Nissan Australia and engineering consultancy Premcar still needs global sign-off, while overwhelming local demand for the standard Nissan Patrol is also proving a challenge.

That’s bad news for fans of what was shaping as the ultimate off-road version of the V8 wagon, but good news for Toyota which won’t have to worry about the Warrior eating into its publicity when the LandCruiser 300 Series launches later this year.

Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester basically conceded the revised timing for the $100K-plus extreme off-road SUV this week.

Asked if the Nissan Patrol Warrior would be launched in the second half of 2021, as the car-maker previously advised, he told carsales: “We would like to … but at this point with Patrol [Warrior], I don’t think so honestly speaking.

So a 2022 launch? “Absolutely, I don’t see why that would be an issue.

“But if we can do it quicker we absolutely would,” he added. “The challenge is not resting here locally – not with Premcar and not with us. It’s all about getting the right sign-offs at R&D globally.”

News of the Nissan Patrol Warrior’s 2022 launch timing comes as a new Patrol Nismo breaks cover in the Middle East. Australia vies with that region as the number one market for V8 Patrols globally.

Renderings like the ones you see here, based on a spy video published by Instagram user Jokerr.cars, show the new Patrol Nismo will adopt styling updates from the latest MY21 Nissan Patrol, while retaining its own flourishes including 22-inch RAYS forged alloy wheels.

Unlike the Warrior, the Nismo is likely to get a power boost for its 298kW/560Nm 5.6-litre petrol V8.

Aussie Patrol sales were up 44.5 per cent in Australia in 2020 compared to 2019. According to VFACTS, 2820 examples of the V8 off-road wagon were registered last year. The trend has continued in January 2021, with sales up 56.5 per cent year-on-year.

Nissan Australia has dropped pricing in recent years (Patrol pricing now starts at $78,910) with positive sales effects. It has also benefitted from COVID-related border closures, prompting more spending by Aussies keen to get out and tour the countryside.

Lester says that has led to a three-month order back-up that’s growing every day, with little prospect of increased supply from the plant in Japan where Australian Y62 supplies are sourced.

That means siphoning Patrols out of limited stocks to turn into Warriors is a tough decision to make as it delays delivery to a confirmed customer.

“We have got months of sold, unallocated supply [of Patrol],” said Lester. “We are getting as many cars as we can … but every time I ask for more cars I have already got them sold.

“And the numbers are just increasing every single month. So it’s not a case that that list is capped or slowing down, it’s every single month the sold-unallocated list continues to grow.

“I could probably ask for 5000 or 6000 Patrols and sell all those cars. Three or four years ago we were selling 700.”

Lester isn’t calling Warrior’s mooted 2022 date a delay, as he insists there was never a formal launch date set. However, previous forecasts had Warrior appearing in the second half of 2021.

“We’ve never really set a date for it [Warrior], because these projects are much more complicated in terms of things that we don’t have control over in order to be able to deliver it to the market.

“Even though we have done the work here, there is so much we rely on other people much further up the food chain for. The chief vehicle engineer, for example, being able to have time to sign it off, or to agree or to delegate.

“Getting into that calendar is a nightmare.”

The new MY21 Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior seems likely to be the only Nissan/Premcar co-production we’ll see in 2021 in production form.

As the MY21 Navara launches this week, production of the old N-Trek-based Warrior has now ceased with 1400 sold.