Nissan: New Cars 2012

GT-R

Sports car. March

The first model to get an update is the almightily Nissan GT-R, which will arrive with the model year 2012 changes in March. This will see the supercar killer hit 0-100km/h around 2.9 seconds, making it one of the fastest road cars money can buy. Interior and exterior changes are not expected, this will more than likely be the last update to the current shape GT-R before an all-new model is unveiled mid to late 2013.

PATROL
4WD - Mid-late 2012

The new Y62 Nissan Patrol that will join the lineup as a petrol V8 only. Nissan Australia has singlehandedly paid the bill to have the new Patrol developed for right-hand drive, given the biggest market for the car was the middle-east and Australia the only right-hand drive market showing a big interest. Meanwhile, since the new Patrol will not be available with a diesel, the existing Y61 model will continue to run for a few more years yet, with safety updates (VSC) as well as standard rear diff lock expected in the first quarter.

MURANO UPDATE

SUV. March/April.

The Nissan Murano will get a facelift around March or April, consisting of a newly designed nose and tail. The Murano, which has so far found over 2,000 buyers this year, is not expected to get any driveline changes.

The Nissan Navara will also get a reshuffle with the V6 engine distributed along other variants. There will also be more specification changes but the overall exterior design is expected to remain the same.

LEAF

Electric car. May.

The big news comes with the introduction of the Nissan LEAF electric car, which will go on sale around May. From a brand building perspective, the LEAF will be the most important model the company will launch next-year, helping cement Nissan’s position as the world’s front-runner in electric car development.

ALMIRA

City car. Mid-late 2012

The Nissan Micra will remain unchanged but will be joined with a sedan variant, named Nisan Almira. Although based on the Micra platform, the Thai built light sedan offers much more room and is substantially bigger than its hatch sibling. Engines and transmissions should remain similar to the Micra, but pricing may be slightly higher.

PULSAR

Small car. Late 2012

The biggest model for the Japanese brand will be the Tiida replacement, the highly anticipated new-generation Nissan Pulsar, which may or may not just fit in before year’s end. The new Pulsar is expected to claw back significant marketshare in the small car segment, an area where the Tiida has been unsuccessful.

PATHFINDER

4WD. 2013

The Nissan Pathfinder will remain relatively unchanged during 2012, despite the unveiling of the next-generation model at Detroit Motorshow in January. The new model will signal the beginning of a new attitude direction for the Pathfinder, which is likely to be based on a monocoque chassis and move away from the truck-like feel of the current model.