New Nissan X-Trail targets Mazda CX-5

Japanese brand aims to challenge family favourites with its new-generation mid-sized SUV

By Feann Torr, carsales.com.au

Nissan is taking aim at its Japanese rivals and hopes to capture the Mazda CX-5’s position as the country’s second most popular family SUV with its all-new X-Trail.

The company launched the fourth-generation model in Australia last month and is confident the X-Trail brings a new level of sophistication, style and technology to the segment that it will become one of Australia’s top selling vehicles.

Priced from $36,750 plus on-road costs, the new Nissan X-Trail will be available in either five-seat or seven-seat configurations across four model grades including ST, ST-L, Ti and Ti-L variants, the latter topping out at $52,990 plus ORCs.

All variants get a significant lift in equipment levels and safety systems with LED headlights, daytime running lights and taillights all fitted as standard, along with adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, rear cross traffic alert, an electric park brake and paddle shifters.

Family-friendly features like such as 90-degree-opening rear doors, sliding rear seats (ST-L and above) and four USB ports are also included, but key features like a power-operated tailgate, automatic wipers, 12.3-inch central touch screen and digital driver’s display are offered only in the up-spec Ti and Ti-L variants starting at $49,990.

The new X-Trail is part of Nissan’s core SUV rejuvenation, which has seen all-new versions of the Qashqai small SUV and Pathfinder large SUV arriving in Australia this year.

Nissan’s fourth-gen X-Trail will be powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine (135kW/244Nm) that delivers an increase of 9kW of power and 18Nm of torque compared to the previous 2.5-litre engine, together with an increased towing capacity (from 1.5 to 2.0 tonnes).

The price-leading 2.0-litre engine has been deleted from the X-Trail range and a new hybrid powertrain will join the fun down the track.

Nissan Australia executives are confident that, with 280,000 X-Trails sold in Australia over the last two decades, the new model will play a significant role in reviving the brand’s flagging popularity.

The 2022 Nissan X-Trail replaces an eight-year-old model that has fallen off the top-10 seller charts with just 6500 sales to October in 2022 – much less than the most popular Toyota RAV4, which has found more than 30,000 sales at the end of 2022 and still commands a 12-month wait list.

The evergreen Mazda CX-5 (23,476 sales) remains the second best-selling vehicle in its class, followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson, all with about 15,000 sales, while the Subaru Forester, MG HS and Honda CR-V are also out-selling the outgoing X-Trail.

“I definitely think that we’ve got the product to jump up to number two,” Nissan Australia product manager Aleksandar Pecanac told carsales.

He said the new-generation X-Trail (codenamed T33) is a class-leading SUV that has what it takes to out-sell the popular Mazda – if Nissan Australia can secure enough supplies.

“But it all hinges on production and availability and then I guess the inverse of how much production Mazda can get and if they’re constricted,” Pecanac said.

However, he added that Nissan Australia was “…definitely in a very good position to get the maximum production we’ve asked for”.

Delivery times for the new X-Trail currently stand at two to three months for the 2500 pre-orders already placed, but the Nissan executive wouldn’t be drawn on whether wait times would extend beyond that going forward.

It was “an impossible question to answer” said Pecanac.

Sales of the X-Trail will be further bolstered in early 2023 when its new twin-motor e-POWER hybrid variant arrives, commanding a $4200 price premium over top-spec petrol-powered Ti and Ti-L models.

How much does the 2023 Nissan X-TRAIL cost?

• ST 2WD – $36,750
• ST 4WD 7-seat – $39,790
• ST-L 2WD – $43,190
• ST-L 4WD 7-seat – $46,290
• Ti 4WD – $49,990
• Ti-L 4WD – $52,990
• Ti e-POWER – $54,190
• Ti-L e-POWER – $57,190

*All prices exclude on-road costs

^{Disclaimer: Images supplied by Nissan Motor Australia.}

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