Nissan Patrol diesel given a lifeline

- The oldest cars on-sale in Australia

Nissan Australia has confirmed it has pushed back the local end dates of its ageing diesel-powered Patrol and Navara models.

With both models enjoying popular followings locally, Nissan Australia chief Richard Emery confirmed to Drive this week that both models will continue to be sold locally until 2016.

The prolonged end date means the Y61 Patrol and D22 Navara will both be 19 years old when they are finally retired in Australia. For comparison, a normal car's lifespan is usually between five and seven years.

"We don't have an end date for Y61 Patrol but I would think it can't go much past 2016. I'm not sure what that exact timeframe is but it will be sometime in the next few years for sure," Emery said.

"At some point in time, the D22 will stop as well. It's still got a bit of life in it yet; we're going to stretch D22 past the start of the new Navara – not forever, but for a while longer."

Emery said Nissan had been cornered into selling the ageing Patrol on an ongoing basis because the newer Y62 version was only available with a V8 petrol – due to demand for that drivetrain in the United States and Middle East.

"The only reason we've got both Patrols is that the market demands a big towing diesel," he said. "Because consumer demand is such, we're keeping both models alive."

Asked what Nissan will do once the Y61 Patrol is eventually retired, Emery pointed to a new ute-based product being developed at Nissan globally, similar to the last-generation Pathfinder. In the past Nissan's Pathfinder was modelled on the same platform as the Navara, however the latest generation of the Pathfinder is a standalone vehicle, built on a more road-friendly monocoque chassis.

"We'd certainly try and scour through the rest of the product lines available around the world for a diesel tow vehicle," he said.

"Hopefully there will be an opportunity for us for an SUV-based product off the Navara, just like we had with the previous Pathfinder model.

"We'll certainly put our hat into the ring if that product is under development, to make sure our voice is heard there in terms of volume proposition and what we would need."

Emery admitted the product does exist within Nissan, but said global production wasn't yet decided.

"Whether it's going to go ahead or not is another question," he said. "We'll throw our weight into that to say 'if you're going to offer that sort of product, we will take it', and on the basis that enough other markets around the world want it, then you'll assume they're going to go ahead and build it."