Nissan Terra will come to Australia ‘ASAP’

The new Nissan Terra will come to Australian showrooms -- the only question is when.

That’s the clear message from the Japanese car-maker’s most senior local executives following the Nissan Navara ute-based off-road SUV’s South East Asian launch in the Philippines this week.

As we reported from the regional launch, the Nissan Terra – which was released in five-seat petrol form in China last month -- will be offered in seven-seat diesel guise in Asian markets like Thailand, where it will be built in left- and right-hand drive alongside the Navara.

Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester said the Terra would have strong local appeal as a belated replacement for the first two Pathfinder generations and a direct rival for the likes of the Ford Everest, Toyota Fortuner, Holden Trailblazer, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Isuzu MU-X.

"We're quite confident … with the product and the segment that it occupies … that this would certainly be in demand from Australian consumers,” he said.

Asked if he was keen to release the Nissan Terra in Australia, Lester said: “Absolutely, no question about it”, before adding that “the goal would be as soon as possible".

"All of the SUV segments really are growing at a reasonable pace and I think that there are [Australian] consumers looking for a versatile and tough SUV.”

However, Nissan’s Australian chief admitted there would need to be changes to the SE Asian-spec Terra to make it suitable Down Under, but indicated the technical upgrades were formalities dependent on a business case.

Namely, the Philippines-spec Terra’s Euro 4 emissions-compliant 2.5-litre four-cylinder single variable-geometry turbo diesel would need to be swapped for the Euro 5-trim 2.3-litre twin-turbo diesel that already powers our Navara.

Matched with six-speed manual and seven-speed automatic transmissions, both turbo-diesels produce 140kW of power at 3600rpm and 450Nm of torque from 2000rpm.

Secondly, while the Terra comes with safety features including six airbags, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, LED headlights, stability/traction control, anti-lock brakes and a reversing camera, it would likely need autonomous emergency braking (AEB) to gain the requisite five-star ANCAP rating if crash-tested in Australia.

But Lester indicated neither of these issues were insurmountable, given both technologies are already available in other vehicles produced by Nissan.

"It's based on the Navara platform and we have a current Navara in market, so the plan would obviously be that we would be able to use the currently-homologated engine from NP Navara in Terra, to be able to bring it into the country," he said.

Meantime, Nissan's global head of commercial vehicles Ashwani Gupta said AEB could easily be added to the Terra if there’s sufficient demand.

That’s because it’s already standard in the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, which is produced alongside the Navara by Nissan in Spain. Nissan also makes the almost-identical Renault Alaskan 4x4 dual-cab for its French sister brand.

"We make Alaskan and we make X-Class," said Gupta. “We have this technology everywhere, so it's not that we can't do it. The point is, when?"

Stand by for our first drive review of the new Nissan Terra this Friday (June 1).