Cummins pursuing diesel power for Nissan Patrol

A joint venture between Nissan and Cummins to put a high-performance turbo-diesel engine into the new Titan ute could lead to a new diesel engine for the Nissan Patrol.

Nissan currently sells two generations of Patrol in Australia, the ageing GQ generation model with a diesel engine and the newer Y62 generation that went on sale with a 298kW 5.6-litre V8 engine in 2013.

The brand has not been able to put together a business case for a diesel Y62 Patrol, but that could change under a new arrangement to secure Cummins-sourced 5.0-litre, 230kW, 750Nm V8 diesel engines for the new Titan pickup.

Renault Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn says he is open to further partnerships with Cummins that could fit the Patrol.

"Today we don't have a project like this," he says.

"But obviously this [Titan] is our first cooperation with Cummins. It's going very well," he says.

"We're going to see how the market, how consumers react to this offer, and from this everything is possible."

Jeff Caldwell, general manager of pickups for Cummins engines, says his team was already investigating the possibility of a Cummins-powered Patrol.

"The Patrol is an item of interest because of interest in marketplaces like Australia where there is a desire for the diesel product," he says.

"And that's not limited to Australia the entire pacific rim has expressed an interest in that."

Caldwell says Cummins has discussed the possibility of further arrangements with Nissan headquarters in Japan.

 "We're too early to claim that there's a program or a path forward but we've got some good discussions going on," he says.

"We have a range of engines right now from our 2.8-litre all the way up to our 6.7-litre that are in pickup or similar applications, so we are looking at opportunities where there is both a natural fit with the chassis and if it's a fit that both of us could work to cost-effectively."