Make / Model Search
News - Market Insight - Market Insight 2025Market Insight: Nissan Patrol comes of ageNissan celebrates quarter-million Patrol sales in Aus as Y62 starts to outsell LC3001 Apr 2025 IT IS hard to believe the Nissan Patrol is into its seventh generation (soon to be six in Australia) in 74 years, chalking up a quarter of a million local sales along the way with the hi-tech and more luxurious Y63 due here perhaps next year or 2027 having already lobbed in Middle East markets late last year.
The very same month Nissan Australia marks its Patrol sales milestone, the soon-to-be-replaced Y62 has outsold its LandCruiser 300 Series arch rival for the third consecutive month, having just recorded its best sales year in two decades despite the LC300 outselling Y62s almost two to one overall during the 2024 calendar year.
As the Y63 follows the LC300 into six-cylinder power, it could be that Aussies are passing on a Toyota to secure ‘one of the last V8s’.
The launch of the Patrol Warrior in 2023 – a vehicle enhanced in Australia, specifically for Australian conditions through Nissan’s long-term engineering partner Premcar – has also drawn attention toward the Y62 and given it a late-life lift.
Since arriving in local Datsun (later Nissan) dealerships in the early 1960s priced from around $1800, Patrol has achieved “legendary” status with serious off-roaders and within the towing community, helped by motorsport icons like the late Les Siviour who successfully raced the unlikely big off-roader.
The Patrol’s reputation started with a baptism of fire soon after it arrived here, completing the first motorised crossing of the vast Simpson Desert in 1962.
In chronological order, the first 4W60/70 model, not sold in Australia, was a Willys Jeep knock-off that started the ball rolling in 1951 on the Japanese domestic market.
There followed the 60/G60/H60 from 1959-80, 160 Series (aka MQ) from 1980-89, Y60 (aka GQ) from 1989-97, the Y61 (aka GU) from 1997-2016 including a three-year overlap with the now 15-year-old Y62.
After years of slow sales, the Y62 started selling its socks off in Australia following a facelift in late 2019 that went on to benefit from a combination of sluggish LC300 supply, backlash to the Toyota’s lack of V8 and a holiday-at-home boom during the pandemic that put more people behind the wheel of a Patrol and helped the nameplate regain critical mass.
The large four-wheel drive had been a popular choice in Australia through all generations that were imported, starting with the Jeep-like 4.0-litre in-line six-cylinder G60 but really hit its straps with the square-set SWB and LWB MQ model in the 1980s that was available with petrol and diesel straight-six engines of various capacity.
Patrol sales rates redoubled when the GQ arrived in SWB and LWB, again a square-set beast but with a more homogenous body instead of what looked like a hard plastic canopy tacked on the back of some SWB versions of its MQ predecessor.
Drive was once again courtesy of in-line six cylinder units in petrol and diesel configuration.
The Y61 (GU) ushered in a monumental change with the first availability of a (troublesome) four-cylinder (turbo-diesel) ZD30DDTi engine accompanying large capacity, up to 4.8-litre, in-line six petrol and smaller diesel six-cylinder units.
V8 power arrived with the Y62 in the 5.6-litre VK56VD naturally aspirated petrol unit that it retains to this day Down Under but this generation also saw the disappearance of SWB variants, being available only in five-door wagon configuration and diesel off the menu completely.
Over those decades, the Nissan says the Patrol has left an “indelible mark on Australia, so too has Australia left its mark on the Patrol”.
“The model’s enduring popularity in this country has led to new generations being tuned and tested in the tough conditions Australia has to offer, ensuring an excellent fit for our market,” says Nissan.
The Patrol continues to roll up thousands of kilometres across Australia enhancing its reputation and making it “more than a vehicle, part of the fabric of Australia.”
Nissan Oceania vice president and managing director Andrew Humberstone said: “Last year, saw Nissan Australia record its best sales on record for the Y62 Patrol and record the best sales for the Patrol nameplate since 2004. That momentum continues, with the Patrol achieving number one in its segment for the last three months.
“While we like to think of the Patrol as legendary, so too are all of its owners, for it’s their stories, memories and adventures that have shaped the legend of Patrol in Australia, and continue to do so today.”  |
Click to shareMarket Insight articlesResearch Market Insight Motor industry news GoAutoNews is Australia’s number one automotive industry journal covering the latest news, future and new model releases, market trends, industry personnel movements, and international events. |
Connect with us
Facebook Twitter Instagram