No diesel for Patrol

The new Nissan Patrol unveiled less than two weeks ago is expected to go on sale in Australia early in 2011. When it does, you'll be able to buy it with the petrol V8 mentioned in our previous report, but no one's saying much about a diesel engine option for the new Patrol.

Toyota's 200 Series LandCruiser offers both petrol and diesel engines, plus its replacement of the 100 Series model about two years ago has provided a major sales windfall for Toyota, despite grumbles that the new Cruiser is significantly more expensive than the previous one.

For Nissan, it's well into penalty time with its current Patrol SUV, the vehicle that directly competes with the LandCruiser 200. Other than a major facelift some years ago, it's basically the same vehicle that first went on sale in Australia back in 1997. To say that Nissan Australia is pinning a lot of hope on the new P61G model Patrol would be an understatement, as the company's MD, Dan Thompson, insinuates.

"It is unmatched by anything in this market and, similar to what the GT-R is to the Nissan brand, the Patrol will make that very loud statement about our capabilities. It's a very special time for us -- for Australia -- and there's not many markets across the world where Patrol has a place. It certainly has a very special place in Australia."

That's the good news. The bad news is there's no diesel variant in the launch line-up.

The local launch of the new model is projected to be around six months or more after the global launch in the Middle East (the biggest market in the world for the Patrol -- Australia being the largest right-hand drive market for the Nissan). And at the present, a diesel Patrol seems like a low priority. Thompson explained why to the Carsales Network at the NZ launch of the 370Z this week.

"What you see is what you get in the Middle East. They have no interest in diesel whatsoever," he said.

Due to the cheap price of petrol over there, diesel engine development for the Patrol is just not a priority. Suggesting that a diesel option for the new Patrol is imperative for the Australian market, we enquired as to whether the delayed launch of the new model here was due to re-engineering the car in right-hand drive for a diesel engine.

"There is no delay for Australia in diesel, there is nothing that's keeping us from getting diesel that's outside of any other product planning that we undertake," answered Thompson.

"[Australia] is not the only right-hand drive market that wants diesel; my only point is that the Middle East doesn't want diesel, so they're petrol only and that will never change. Diesel's important in Australia... It's just a matter of getting everything across the line..."

The problem appears to be that despite being a big market for Patrol, Australia simply doesn't take enough units to influence the roll-out of new engineering developments.

"We're a small market," says Thompson, "we have unique requirements. Same process for any car as for P61G... we will take what you see in the Middle East and continue to work towards delivering other lifecycle type improvements in the car."

Maybe it's us, but "lifecycle type improvements" is a phrase we would interpret to mean that a diesel option will not be available until down the track.

"We understand the importance of diesel and we've gotta find the right plan that works best for us," Thompson observes. The 'business case' issue for a diesel P61G Patrol is not limited to Australia, it's a global business case constraint, he adds.

"When it comes to powertrain, it's not generally market-specific. Business cases for markets are more around packaging and content, modifications."

To illustrate the importance of diesel for the Australian market, if not also for other right-hand drive Patrol markets around the world, we asked Thompson for a rough sales split for the Patrol, diesel versus petrol.

"One third petrol, two thirds diesel... maybe even bordering on 70/30 [diesel/petrol]," he answered.

"If you're looking at for instance large SUV [the VFACTS market segment in which the Patrol wagons compete with LandCruiser and the moribund Jeep Commander], we make up a big, big part of the segment, and currently we're almost exclusively diesel.

"There is a demand for petrol... but there is a bigger market opportunity for diesel in Australia. Much more so than there is for petrol."

So, there's an admission that diesel is important to the on-going success of the Patrol in this country, but Thompson is a little coy when asked about plans to overcome the apparent shortfall. He mentions that Nissan has a number of options available to it. One such is to continue selling the 'Y61' Patrol (the current generation model) alongside the new one, until, presumably, such time as the new model can be ordered with a diesel engine.

"We've been quite effective with D40 and D22, [new and old Navaras] for instance. There is quite a market still for a, let's say, a 'workhorse' ute, that sits in that $30,000 space. We continue to sell four or 500 D22 utes every month."

So there's a precedent there for an old model to sell alongside a new one and capture a share of market not available to the new model -- budget buyers for Navara, diesel buyers for Patrol.

"It can't continue forever..." says Thompson, sounding a note of warning in selling old alongside new.

When the new Patrol arrives, it will likely sell at a higher price, further distancing itself from traditional buyers.

"Certainly P61G is a bigger, better car in every single respect and certainly it will be priced accordingly," agrees Thompson.

With the Patrol moving upmarket, how will that affect sales volumes?

"We have no concern as to what the car is... the car is that good. Those that demand that type of vehicle and that type of performance or whatever it is that they demand -- if it's towing or whatever -- they will move into that space."

Thompson remains optimistic that Nissan will be properly prepared when the new Patrol comes to market.

"We have plenty of options when it comes to the future of Patrol; whether that's P61G or Y61 -- we'll figure it out over coming months. We want to be class-leading in that segment with P61G. At the same time we need to make sure our current customer needs are met -- and we'll find a way," he assured.

So, here's where we raised the subject of rumour and innuendo, the 550Nm Renault diesel V6 said to be planned for the P61G Patrol.

"There's no plan that that is the solution," responded Thompson. "There's plenty of options and one of them is the offerings that we have under the Alliance, but I'm not saying that that's the plan for P61G. It's one of many things that we'll continue to look at. But it's not to the point where I would say it's a 'plan'.

What other options are available for Australian Patrol buyers if they like the car, but baulk at the fuel bills for a petrol version? How about LPG?

"No. From a powertrain perspective, we look at everything. Obviously we first look within Nissan, second within the Alliance and third whether there's other options outside of the group... because everything's fair game."

But LPG as a dealer-fit option or warranty-friendly aftermarket job isn't on the cards.

"There's plenty of things being studied and worked, from both the financial side and the technical side to find the best solution for us, but it doesn't mean that it's going to be an Alliance diesel engine. It doesn't mean it is going to be the final solution. It is one option certainly," Thompson concluded.

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