Nissan pulls base model
Nissan Australia has quietly decided to pull the pin on the most affordable variant of its Pathfinder shortly after the new-generation large SUV range launched in December, priced from $61,790 plus on-road costs.
The deletion of the ST-L eight-seater leaves two Pathfinders standing: The eight seat TI priced at $71,490 plus on-road costs and range-topping TI-L seven-seater at $81,490 plus on-road costs.
In February, both were subject to price rises, of $1460 and $1263, respectively.
The departure of the entry-level Pathfinder comes after Nissan Australia recorded a miserable 193 sales for the range in the first two months of this year, against competitors such as the Ford Everest, 1982 sales, Toyota Prado, 2305 sales, Kia Sorento, 2088 sales, and Toyota Kluger and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport with 1785 and 1118 sales, respectively.
A Nissan Australia spokesperson told Goauto the Pathfinder line-up had been ‘streamlined’ to the two most-popular variants in the market.
“We have opted to streamline the Pathfinder line-up due to unavoidable supply constraints and ongoing disruption in the global production environment,” the spokesperson said.
Nissan dealers Goauto spoke with put a positive spin on the situation, suggesting room had been made for a high-end Warrior version of Pathfinder down the track, which would bring the variant count back to three, albeit with a significant move upmarket.
Nissan Australia currently offers two locally-enhanced Warrior versions of the Navara ute with a Warrior version of the V8 petrol Patrol confirmed to be in the pipeline.
The sorry result for Pathfinder sales comes after the model went into hiatus for two years in the run up to the fifth-generation version that arrived late last year facing stiff competition, variously offering hybrid or diesel powertrain options and some shifting towards smaller capacity turbocharged four-cylinder engines instead of gas-guzzling petrol V6s such as the one in the Pathfinder.
All-wheel drive is standard across the Pathfinder range, which uses Nissan’s 202kw-340nm VQ35DD 3.5-litre petrol V6 engine with roots going back decades.
Industry commentators suggest the lapse in model continuity might have cost Pathfinder sales dearly, as buyers moved on to newer high-tech offerings including Nissan’s own new X-trail that would suffice for extended family duties at a pinch – and at a considerable cost saving considering the current constrained economic environment.
Nissan Australia only launched the new-generation, three-row Pathfinder in December, said to plug the gap between diesel-powered and bodyon-frame 4x4 models such as Ford’s Everest, and bitumen-biased sevenseaters such as the Toyota Kluger.
Like the latter, the Pathfinder uses a monocoque chassis design similar to a passenger car, positioned between softer and harder competitors within the large SUV category and is engineered to be more off-road capable than its predecessor after Nissan research showed the previousgeneration Pathfinder had strayed too far from its rugged roots. Despite swapping the old Pathfinder’s unloved continuously variable transmission for a nine-speed torque converter auto and providing a seven-mode all-wheel drive system that promises more off-road capability, Nissan’s efforts to address the perception that the Pathfinder is a soft roader appear to have fallen short of the mark, judging by the vehicle’s poor sales rate that equates to less than even Ssangyong’s fringe-dwelling Rexton.