Nissan X-TRAIL Warrior under consideration

Is Nissan Australia seeking to develop a more rugged version of the new Nissan X-TRAIL due on sale here next year to bolster its growing Warrior sub-brand?

The car-maker would neither confirm nor deny an X-TRAIL Warrior is under development with engineering partner Premcar when questioned about it, but said that more models beyond the new Navara Warrior and upcoming Patrol Warrior are being looked at.

“Potentially the Warrior treatment could be applied to other models as well, so it doesn’t necessarily just stop with Navara and Patrol,” said Matt Bailey, Nissan Australia’s project manager for the Warrior sub-brand.

As more Australians seek tougher vehicles in which to venture further off the beaten track on domestic holidays instead of international travel, mainstream manufacturers are looking to steal some sales from the 4WD aftermarket.

With the second iteration of the Nissan Navara Warrior almost done and dusted, the engineering team at Premcar is returning to its next off-road project, the first Nissan Patrol Warrior.

Once the tougher Patrol is released in 2022, the partnership between Nissan Australia and Premcar is unlikely to end.

And talk of new Warrior models refuses to go away.

Given the Nissan X-TRAIL is the brand’s top-selling vehicle, outpacing even the Navara ute, and Australia’s third most popular medium SUV behind the Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5, it would seem logical for the all-new X-TRAIL due by mid-2022 to be high on the agenda for a locally-engineered nip, tuck and lift.

The next-gen Nissan X-TRAIL is based on a completely new platform architecture and packed to the rafters with new technology – including what is expected to be Australia’s first e-POWER hybrid powertrain.

An Australian-developed Warrior version of the new Nissan Pathfinder, which is set to arrive in early 2022, is another possibility – as is a Warrior-badged version of the new QASHQAI small SUV, which will replace Nissan’s third-best-seller later in the first quarter of next year.

“We just keep an open mind, looking at what the opportunities are. What do customers want and what are the models available,” said Bailey.

“We go through that process, regularly reviewing the opportunities that are there.”

While the Premcar-fettled Warrior variants of the ladder-framed Navara and Patrol Warrior will both deliver improved off-road performance, Bailey said Warrior branding won’t necessarily bring hard-core upgrades like the mega lift-kit, huge wheels and snorkel evident on this beefy rendering from Nikita Chukto.

Instead, a milder and more affordable upgrade could be applied to car-based Nissan models including the Pathfinder, X-TRAIL and QASHQAI, such as extra ground clearance, body cladding and all-terrain tyres.

“From a personal perspective any Warrior has got to talk to capability and I probably think it more easily lends itself to that off-road capability. It doesn’t have to be hard-core off-road though,” said Bailey.

Toyota Australia has not ruled out a RAV4 Rugged X model with a few extra off-road features and a homegrown LandCruiser 300 Series Rugged X is not off the cards either.

The former would be a direct rival for an X-TRAIL Warrior and the latter would compete with the upcoming Patrol Warrior.

Like all Warrior models developed and engineered locally, other Premcar-tuned Nissans would be backed by the Japanese car-maker’s five-year factory warranty.

However, Bailey would not be drawn on exactly which new Nissan model will be next in line for the Warrior treatment.

“We have to focus on what we have in front of us, so I’m not going to speculate on that,” he said.