Nissan has more than halved its Pathfinder range locally just months after it went on sale, leaving only high-spec, all-wheel drive models.
The all-wheel drive Ti and Ti-L are the only variants currently on sale, with front-wheel drive ST and Ti and all-wheel drive ST-L models removed from price lists indefinitely.
That also means the base price of the Pathfinder has soared from $54,190 before on-road costs to $70,030 before on-roads.
“The 2023 Nissan Pathfinder line-up has been streamlined to two grades – the Ti 4WD and Ti-L 4WD. These two grades are our most popular trim levels amongst Australian customers,” said a spokesperson for Nissan Australia.
The company couldn’t confirm when lower-spec models would return to the Australian market.
“I can say that our focus is on delivering great vehicles that meet the demands of our Australian customers. Any future changes to global vehicle supplies will be assessed and action taken as needed,” the spokesperson added.
From its launch late last year to the end of January, Nissan has sold only 261 examples of the large crossover. Only 73 were delivered in January, well below rivals like the Toyota Kluger (681 sales) and Mazda CX-9 (340 sales).
Nissan has been battling supply issues with much of its SUV range.
The Qashqai e-Power was set for launch in late 2022 but is now arriving sometime this year, while the core Qashqai range was delayed from early 2022 to the fourth quarter of last year.
That left Nissan without a Qashqai to sell, with stock of the previous-generation model having dried up earlier in the year.
The gap in supply was even more pronounced with the Pathfinder, of which stock dried up early in 2021 and the replacement didn’t arrive until towards the end of 2022.
