Despite being offered in several overseas markets - including Europe - a seven-seat AWD variant remains absent from the local X-Trail line-up, while rivals like the Mitsubishi Outlander, Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento have offered the combination for years.
Speaking to CarAdvice, Chris Jordan, corporate communications manager at Nissan Australia (who has since moved on to Infiniti’s head office in Hong Kong), said while the company doesn’t have any immediate plans to introduce such a model, it could be introduced in the future if customers demand it.
“We continuously monitor market demand and trends and don’t rule out introducing an all-wheel drive seven-seat X-Trail in the future, but we have no plans at this time given demand,” he said.
“Given we already have over 12 grade variations, we decided against offering a seven-seat all-wheel drive X-Trail grade.”
Meanwhile, Peter Fadeyev, general manager for corporate communications at the company’s local arm, said the current low demand for an all-wheel drive seven-seater wouldn’t justify the extra costs of further diversifying the line-up.
“The Nissan X-Trail is available with the combination of seven seats and all-wheel drive in only several markets,” he said.
“We know local market demand for all-wheel drive in a seven-seat variant of the X-Trail is limited, hence we have not added it to-date.”
“In Australia, because the Nissan X-Trail customer group is predominantly families, we have configured this model range - which currently comprises 12 variants of model grade, engine type, transmission, drive system and seating layout - with value as a priority. Also keep in mind that adding more model variations brings significant additional costs,” he added.
Despite the lack of a seven-seat all-wheel drive model, the X-Trail still outsells its closest rival, the Mitsubishi Outlander, and consistently shifts over 1000 units a month.
Year-to-date, the X-Trail is ranked fourth in the medium SUV sales race, not far behind the Hyundai Tucson and Toyota RAV4, but well behind the Mazda CX-5 - which is about 5000 units ahead of the pack.
Do you want to see a seven-seat all-wheel drive Nissan X-Trail offered in Australia? Let us know in the comments section below
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