2022 Nissan Patrol outsells Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series in February

The battle for the title of Australia's most popular luxury 4x4 is heating up, with the Nissan Patrol taking the top spot over the Toyota LandCruiser during February.

New car sales data shows a total of 670 Patrols were sold last month compared to the 612 examples of the new LandCruiser 300 Series, as Toyota deals with stock shortages thanks to production cuts.

The pair are classed as the only 'upper large' segment SUVs under $100,000 – however all LC300s above the GX and GXL break through the $100k barrier – and both comfortably outsell a majority of the large SUV market, beaten only by the sub-$70,000 Toyota Prado (2778), Isuzu MU-X (855), Toyota Kluger (664) and Ford Everest (652).

3

Toyota only launched its latest iteration of the LandCruiser last year, but it has already taken the sales lead for 2022 courtesy of a strong opening month, with 1342 units sold so far compared to Nissan's 785 Patrols shifted after it only managed to sell 115 examples throughout January.

The new-generation LandCruiser is the first to adopt Toyota's 3.3-litre, twin-turbo diesel V6 engine, contrasting against the Patrol – which still utilises the same 5.6-litre, naturally-aspirated petrol V8 available at launch for the Y62 in 2010.

A potential contributing factor to the Patrol's February success is Nissan's revised 2022 update, which launched at the start of the month, bringing a minor front-end redesign along with a $1000 price increase (now starting at $82,160 before on-road costs – which has aided sales to jump from 332 in the same month last year to 670, an increase of 102 per cent.

3

The Patrol has been comprehensively beaten in the sales charts by the LandCruiser since the global pandemic began, with Nissan managing to sell only 3333 units in 2021 (vs. 14,356 for LandCruiser) after a painful 2020, where it was outsold 2820 to 15,078 by the Toyota.

In its native Japan, Toyota has advised local customers of four-year long waiting times for LC300 deliveries, with its Australian division previously confirming a 12-month waiting list for the luxury SUV.