One of Nissan’s oldest nameplates, Pathfinder, may not be long for Australia as we know it, as legislative changes here and abroad determine the car’s future.
But the potential replacement looming for our market to better take on the big-selling Ford Everest, Toyota Kluger, Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento in the big three-row SUV segment might be the knockout blow Nissan sorely needs against such tough competition.
According to Nissan Oceania Vice President and Managing Director, Andrew Humberstone, the main stumbling block with the existing Pathfinder is around maintaining profitability and competitiveness in the face of looming tariffs in the United States.
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“Pathfinding is an interesting one because… of what's going to happen with tariffs, the whole Trump effect,” he told CarsGuide.
“So where does that leave us, and how do we manage that?”
Like its closest competitor, the Kluger (or Highlander, as it is known in North America), the past two generations of Pathfinder have been sourced from the US.
That works in the Nissan’s favour post-tariff implementation, but the three-row SUV uses components from Japan, Mexico, China and elsewhere, meaning it is subject to potentially punitive taxes, that in turn makes the vehicle more expensive for Nissan Australia to import.
And affordability has been the current model’s biggest bugbear with consumers.
With the consistent low volume the Pathfinder delivers, Humberstone believes that the Pathfinder business case as it currently stands may not work moving forward.
Last year, Nissan only managed to register 523 units, which represented a 63 per cent decline over 2023’s results of 1400 sales. The latter is still around a third of what the series used to manage a decade ago in Australia.
Why? The Pathfinder was severely hamstrung by the unavailability of the base ST and mid-grade ST-L versions that the existing R53 series launched with here in late 2022.
This meant that the cheapest version, the Ti, started from over $70,000, instead of under $55,000, where the entry-level alternatives, including Kluger, the Santa Fe and Sorento, commence.
“We have opted to streamline the Pathfinder line-up due to unavoidable supply constraints and ongoing disruption in the global production environment,” a company spokesperson said at the time.
This situation was only partly rectified mid-year with the return of the ST-L, which currently kicks off from $59,945 before on-road costs, meaning that the old ST remains AWOL.
Additionally, the Pathfinder only offers an albeit magnificent V6 petrol engine. This competes against the far-more economical, now hybrid-only Kluger and Santa Fe HEV hybrid, that costs similar money to and less respectively than the ST-L, further eroding the Nissan’s appeal.
In fact, with the NVES kicking in from January 1 this year, federal government-mandated fines in the future seem certain for the Pathfinder if things don’t change. Currently it emits an average of 245 grams per kilometre of carbon dioxide, against this year’s 141g/km standard – and the latter figure will fall annually.
So, what about the alternatives?
The strongest contender currently must surely be the current series’ Chinese fraternal twin, unveiled at the 2023 Auto Shanghai show, built by partner Dongfeng and also badged Pathfinder.
In one stroke, this restyled and reengineered version with a sleek fresh look inside and out (while still boasting the same, big dimensions) would address the US R53’s biggest drawbacks – expensive sourcing and a thirsty powertrain, since it instead uses Nissan’s KR20DDET 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine.
Producing 185kW of power and 386Nm of torque in Dongfeng spec and driving either the front or all four wheels via a nine-speed torque-converter automatic, in China the combined average fuel consumption figure is 8.6L/100km. That’s nearly 2.0L/100km less than what’s in Australian models today.
Note, however, that the latter is also set to replace the V6 in the US Pathfinder soon, so we may see the four-pot turbo arrive in the existing shape in the not-too-distant future.
Of course, other contenders may also follow, but these loom largest for Australia right now.
According to Humberstone, Nissan has vowed to be more reactive and proactive with future models, giving consumers what they want whilst striving to deliver industry-best aftersales care, to win back buyers.
“We need to be very agile in this kind of global economic situation,” he added.
To that end, replacing established models with more cost-effective (read: cheaper) solutions from China is not out of the question.
“We have a broad range of opportunities, between joint ventures with Chinese manufacturers, between product all over the world,” Humberstone explained.
“What we're dealing with at the moment is: what is best for the market today and serves our purpose today, where we have critical mass that works for, number one, the consumer, number two the dealer network and, number three, for us.
“Let's see if there's opportunity.”
Watch this space.
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