Is Nissan a sleeping giant about to wake up? What’s coming in 2027

Nissan sold 2,028 new vehicles in Australia in September. That's down 30% on the same month last year and it was enough to see the brand outsold by Chinese EV maker Zeekr (2,050).

For a brand that sold 79,747 cars here in 2012 and finished sixth in the market, that's a long way to fall. July was worse again with 1,591 sales marking one of Nissan's lowest monthly results in almost three decades of VFACTS data.

The range has shrunk with it. The Juke and Pathfinder are gone, the next-generation Leaf has been postponed for Australia, and Navara sales are down 48.1% year to date. The Ariya is Nissan's only EV and it found 37 buyers in September, a month in which EVs took 24.2% of the new-car market.

Ariya

That lack of new product is about to change - and Nissan hopes it will spark a revival.

Nissan will reveal its first plug-in hybrid for Australia this Thursday, 8 October, the new Y63 Patrol lands in the first quarter of 2027, and a new-generation X-Trail is due before the end of next year.

The Beep spoke with Nissan Oceania managing director Steve Milette at the launch of the expanded X-Trail range. He wouldn't name names, but he was clear about where the brand is heading.

"What would make the success of Nissan is having refreshed, renewed product [and] powertrain diversity," Milette told The Beep. "I do know that the average age of our portfolio is going to go down quite significantly."

Steve Milette

Nissan's product pipeline at a glance

X-Trail e-Power 2WD: filling the obvious gap

The first change is already in showrooms. Until now, the X-Trail e-Power hybrid was only sold with all-wheel drive which locked Nissan out of half the hybrid market.

X-Trail e-Power 2WD

"The total industry, 25.9% of it is hybrid. Half of that is two-wheel drive, half is four-wheel drive. So we've only participated in half," Milette said. "Now we expand it to the full hybrid segment."

The new ST-L 2WD e-Power starts at $45,990 before on-roads, $3,090 less than its all-wheel drive equivalent and level with the base Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. Ti and Ti-L 2WD e-Power grades follow at $50,915 and $54,715. Alongside them, the new petrol-only Rock Creek ($48,315) adds a tougher look to the seven-seat X-Trail, but no extra off-road hardware.

X-Trail Rock Creek

Toyota has sold a front-drive RAV4 Hybrid here for more than seven years, so why the wait? Milette, who took the top job this year, said the call wasn't his.

"The decision to launch two-wheel drive… is very timely. You know, with the spike in fuel pricing, the shift in consumer preference."

Patrol Y63: the halo arrives early 2027

Then comes the new Patrol, one of Nissan's most important launches in years. "You go from that to Patrol, which is a halo brand unto itself," Milette said.

Y63 Nissan Patrol

The Y63 swaps the old 5.6-litre V8 for a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 making 317kW and 700Nm, paired with a nine-speed automatic and rated to tow 3,700kg braked. Six grades run from $98,990 to $145,990 before on-roads, with the entry Ti undercutting the LandCruiser 300 GX. Australia is the first right-hand drive market to get it and the rear differential housing for every Y63 built worldwide is cast at Nissan's plant in Dandenong South.

Early interest has been strong. "We had pre-launch activities where customers could register their interest and send their leads to dealers. We had 2,500" Milette said, noting the registrations came in less than 30 days. "And now they're starting to convert to firm orders."

Early orders are skewing towards the upper grades, which Milette said matched Nissan's expectations. "Customers are probably heading in the direction we thought they would," he said.

The outgoing V8 Patrol is still selling strongly with 544 Patrols sold in September, second only to the LandCruiser wagon in its segment.

Navara Pro PHEV ute: Nissan's Shark 6 fight starts Thursday

Nissan Australia hasn't confirmed what it will reveal on Thursday, but its teaser, a Nissan badge on bright yellow paint, matches the hero colour of the Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid ute. It's sold as the Navara Pro in some overseas markets and prototypes have been testing on Australian roads.

Frontier Pro

Built by Nissan's Chinese joint venture with Dongfeng, the overseas-spec ute makes 320kW and 800Nm, claims 131km of electric range (NEDC) and 7.2L/100km, and is rated to tow 3,500kg braked. A locking rear differential should give it an off-road edge over some rivals. It would take on the BYD Shark 6, GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV, Ford Ranger PHEV and Chery's upcoming plug-in ute, and would likely sit alongside the existing diesel Navara rather than replace it.

The PHEV ute is also important for Nissan's emissions targets. Under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, every V6 Patrol and diesel Navara Nissan sells has to be balanced by cleaner cars elsewhere in its range.

"As many Patrols as we want to sell, we need to offset it with something else," Milette said. "And so we do need to have a balanced portfolio, because we want to be there to meet the customer needs."

Full details arrive on Thursday and The Beep will have them as soon as they drop.

Next-generation X-Trail: less than a year behind the US

Australia had to wait around two years for the current X-Trail. Nissan says that won't happen with the next one.

Rogue SUV

"Unlike the current generation of X-Trail, where I think we got it two model years after the launch of the first one, that's being compressed quite significantly," Milette said. "So between the launch of the first left-hand drive and the launch of the right-hand drive, it's less than a year."

The new model has already been revealed in the US as the Rogue, where it debuts Nissan's third-generation e-Power system. A 1.5-litre turbo three-cylinder acts as a generator while electric motors drive the wheels, with a dual-motor all-wheel drive layout. It's due in Australia around the end of 2027.

"It's a fantastic looking car," Milette said.

The maybes: Terrano, NX8 and N7

Beyond those confirmed models, Nissan is considering several Dongfeng-developed vehicles for Australia. They include the Terrano, a body-on-frame plug-in hybrid SUV shown in concept form in April that shares its bones with the ute and could fill the gap left by the Pathfinder; the NX8, a large SUV offered as an EV or extended-range EV; and the N7 electric sedan, which would give Nissan its first sedan here since the Altima bowed out in 2017.

N7 Electric Sedan

"We can't confirm the nameplates or the models," Milette said. But he was firm that Nissan won't bet on a single technology.

"Our consumers, they don't just want EVs," he said. "I think we're a mainstream brand and we play in the mainstream segments, the bigger segments. And so I think you need powertrain diversity to succeed."

Can Nissan fight the Chinese brands on price?

Chinese brands have become particularly strong at the affordable end of the market, while Nissan currently has nothing below the Qashqai. Milette didn't rule out Nissan returning to that part of the market.

"We're always studying new products. We're always studying if there is a smaller, less expensive crossover vehicle, SUV," he said. "It doesn't mean we have something to announce or something will be confirmed."

Milette said Nissan doesn't need to be the cheapest brand to compete.

"Whether the Chinese are in or not, it doesn't matter. I think I need to sell the values that I have. I've been here for 60 years. They haven't," he said. "I have a captive finance company. I have a 10-year warranty, five-year capped service pricing. We have proof points that others will take generations to build. I can compete with them, even if I'm not the cheapest."

He also took aim at the after-sales experience offered by some newcomers, noting that Nissan shares service facilities with some new entrants.

"There are service departments where 90% of the calls, they're not from my brand," he said. "They're from the other brand in the house."

So is the giant waking up?

Nissan will be hoping 2026 marks the low point. It has already added cheaper X-Trail hybrids, with the new Patrol, its first PHEV and a new-generation X-Trail all set to follow by the end of 2027.

Nissan has been part of Australian motoring for 60 years. Plenty of us learned to drive in a Pulsar, towed the van to the coast behind a Patrol or grew up with an X-Trail as the family car, and that kind of history counts for a lot. A lot of Australians would like to see Nissan back near the top of the sales charts.

Goodwill only goes so far though, and Nissan still has to get these launches right. If it does, plenty of Australians will be ready to welcome it back.