Nissan keen to launch the Patrol in India

The launch of the Patrol SUV has been on Nissan India’s radar for some time now, and with the brand's much-needed India product resurgence now well underway, it's keen on making this happen soon. In response to a question from Autocar India on the possibility of imports on the sidelines of the Nissan Juke unveil in Japan, Guillaume Cartier – chief performance officer at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. – confirmed that he is keen to explore options within the allowed homologation-free import limit of 2,500 passenger vehicles annually into India.

"CBU is an option, and yes, we want to have some spice for India, so we are looking at some of our iconic models," remarked Cartier. 

Thierry Sabbagh – divisional vice president and president, Middle East, KSA, CIS and India – said the Patrol ranks high on that list, "As I have said before, the Patrol is a flagship for us, and definitely, we are looking at how we can expand the Patrol to other markets, and India is definitely one of them."

Nissan dealers in India 'excited' about the Patrol

Sabbagh also said that Nissan has spoken to its dealer partners about the possibility of the Patrol’s market introduction, and they "are excited about it," despite the recent X-Trail import failing to find takers. Cartier acknowledged this, saying, "I tried with X-Trail, but the price didn’t work out like we wanted, but yes, CBUs are being seriously looked into."

Rather than chase a target price, the plan is to bring in a well-equipped model and offer a compelling and capable product that would reflect the Patrol’s badge value. "As you said, we would like to do it right with this model," said Cartier.

We had reported the plans for a 2026 launch of the Patrol back in 2024, and this could remain on track, or slip to early next year. Given the uptake in large luxury SUVs, Nissan would have a better shot at selling the Patrol, given the model's strong badge value and the fact that it recently underwent a full generation change that, among technical changes, also doubled down on the model's butch and upright stance.  

'Our ambition is to stay and do well in India'

Cartier also reinforced the brand’s commitment to India. "Many people think we are trying to exit, but if we wanted to, we could easily have, at the time of selling our manufacturing stake," he said. Indeed in August 2025, when Nissan sold its stake in the joint manufacturing venture with Renault, the former's portfolio consisted of just one model, its market share was a minuscule 0.4 percent, and it had fewer than 100 dealers.

However, the plan was always to stay in India, says Cartier. "It is a growing market, so why leave. But we needed to restructure to do well. India is a challenging market, margins are slim and model lifecycles are short."

Thus, Cartier believes that the new arrangement is what will work well for the company in India. He also stressed that, given the ambition to grow, the brand has retained its financial arm that it has in India, as well as its shareholding in the R&D centre with Renault. Sabbagh further pointed out that the plan is to now increase its dealers and customer touchpoints to over 250.

'We have a production capacity reservation'

Cartier also stressed the point that Nissan India has a capacity reservation with Renault in India of 2,50,000 units annually, essentially half the plant’s capacity. The production reservation goes up to 2029 and would thus see the current four products through at least one refresh, with the option to further extend this. In addition, Nissan has a ‘transaction price’ agreement with Renault in place, which helps the brand with its business planning – also important, given that Nissan exports the Magnite from India and even the Sunny, which continues to be sold in the Middle East market.

This year will be a crucial one for Nissan in India, not just for its sales but for its future too. Its story so far has been one of poor product planning, sporadic interventions and thus, an underwhelming performance. However, with a confirmed product expansion to four models, local R&D in place, and dealer network expansion, Nissan seems to be giving its India operations a lot, as Cartier put it, "From scary, we are going with something that is well-thought-out."