Drive.com
NISSAN has confirmed that the upcoming Patrol Y63 will not offer a diesel engine, marking a continued move away from the fuel that once defined its large SUV range.
The Japanese automaker says the decision is driven by changing customer preferences and the global shift towards petrol, hybrid, and electric vehicles.
Speaking at the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan’s chief product specialist for full-size SUVs, Antonio Lopez, explained that the company saw little demand for diesel outside Australia, particularly in its major Patrol markets of the Middle East and North America.
He also highlighted that Nissan no longer had a suitably large diesel engine for the Patrol, having largely scaled back diesel development over the past 15 years.
“Customer needs have shifted,” Mr Lopez said.
“Most vehicles coming into Australia today are petrol, hybrid, or EVs. For the Patrol, a petrol engine delivers the performance that customers expect, without the need for diesel.”
Diesel has been absent from the Patrol line-up since the Y61, with the locally sold Y62 and upcoming twin-turbo V6 Y63 models relying solely on petrol.
While diesel remains popular in commercial vehicles such as the Navara ute, which continues to be offered in Australia, Nissan believes diesel no longer fits the Patrol’s global strategy.
The decision comes even as diesel-powered vehicles still account for nearly 30 per cent of new vehicle sales in Australia, predominantly in utes, vans, and four-wheel drives like the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series. Toyota itself has acknowledged the long-term decline of diesel but continues to offer it in models where its efficiency and torque are advantageous, particularly for towing and rural applications.
Mr Lopez also noted that the practicalities of engine supply influenced the decision.
Nissan’s current passenger and light commercial diesels are small four-cylinder units, with no high-capacity V6 diesel available for Patrol-sized vehicles. Previous technical collaborations, such as with Mercedes-Benz for a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 in the X-Class, are no longer options.
For Australian Patrol buyers, this means the next-generation Y63 will continue to rely on petrol power, with hybrid or alternative fuel variants not yet confirmed.
