Y63 Nissan Patrol to stay petrol-only in Australia

Australian Nissan Patrol buyers aren’t calling for a hybrid version of the large SUV, despite a hybrid powertrain being introduced to the rival Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series lineup earlier this year.

The new Y63 Patrol, officially available to order this week, will be offered exclusively with a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine producing 317kW of power and 700Nm of torque, mated with a nine-speed automatic transmission, making it more powerful than the outgoing Y62’s 5.6-litre petrol V8.

The Australian Y63 Patrol lineup will include six model grades, double the previous three-variant offering and going toe-to-toe with the LandCruiser 300 Series range – but offering petrol only, while the Toyota is available with diesel and hybrid powertrains.

“We haven't had feedback from customers jumping on our social channels, as is often the case, saying ‘Where’s the hybrid?’,” a Nissan Australia spokesperson told CarExpert when asked whether the lineup needed a hybrid.

That’s despite record sales of non-plug-in hybrid models year-to-date in Australia, with 123,548 sold to the end of July 2026, compared with 111,515 at the same point in 2025, for a 16.7 per cent market share.

Toyota Australia said 12 per cent of LandCruiser 300 Series sales in July were hybrids – with the powertrain offered only in up-spec Sahara ZX and GR Sport model grades – equating to 168 sales in its first full month in local showrooms.

The LandCruiser 300 hybrid uses a retuned version of the powertrain in the Toyota Tundra full-size pickup sold here, combining a 3.4-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 with an electric motor for outputs of 341kW and 790Nm. Toyota said the powertrain is geared towards performance rather than fuel economy, and costs around $9000 more than the 227kW/700Nm 3.3-litre twin-turbo diesel versions of the same 300 Series model grades.

Nissan Australia offers its e-Power hybrid technology in its best-selling X-Trail SUV, a rival to the Toyota RAV4, Mitsubishi Outlander and Hyundai Tucson, as well as in the smaller Qashqai SUV.

It's also set to add the Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid (PHEV) dual-cab ute, a BYD Shark 6 rival, to local showrooms in 2027.

Earlier this year, Nissan Oceania managing director Steve Milette told CarExpert the Nissan Terrano PHEV shown at Auto China 2026 in April was also at the top of a “prioritised lineup” for Australia. The Terrano, due on sale in China from around April 2027, hasn't been confirmed for local showrooms, but the automaker said at its reveal that it's designed for global export markets.

Yet the Patrol, which isn't offered with a hybrid powertrain in any country where it's sold, will remain petrol-powered for the near future.

“I think we're coming to market with a product that meets the requirements of the market today,” the Nissan Australia spokesperson added.

“It's not to say that it won't evolve and that the segment won't evolve, but if you look at what the Patrol customer wants, they want three rows, they want the big braked towing capacity, they want the space, they want all of those things.

“And at the moment, the excitement for the V6 twin-turbo with the performance figures that we’ve already put out has been such that we know that there is a strong interest … I think as we stand today and as we launch the car, we have the right drivetrain.”

As with the Y62, there's no diesel available in other markets, though in the Middle East it's also available with a 236kW/386Nm naturally aspirated 3.8-litre petrol V6.

MORE: Explore the Nissan Patrol showroom