Nissan Australia confirms cheaper X-Trail hybrid and plots direct rival to BYD Shark plug-in ute

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Entry to the Nissan X-Trail hybrid could be cut by thousands of dollars after the Japanese car maker confirmed a new, front-wheel-drive variant for the Australian market.

The cheaper e-Power version of Nissan’s best-selling vehicle is expected to be offered as either a base ST grade or mid-spec ST-L.

With the current all-wheel-drive-only e-Power variants carrying a premium between $3000 and $3800, the front-drive X-Trail hybrid has the potential to be priced in the low-$40K bracket when considering the $38,140 RRP of the petrol ST FWD.

This would undercut two popular key rivals – front-driven hybrid variants of the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, priced from $49,900 and $45,990 respectively.

Nissan’s cheaper X-Trail hybrid is just one of several model range tweaks planned as, along with other car makers, it faces up to the prospect of fines for inefficient vehicles under the government’s New Emissions Vehicle Standard (NEVS).

Outgoing managing director for Nissan Oceania, Andrew Humberstone, attributed changes to the Patrol, Navara, and Qashqai for the same NVES-dependent reasons. 

“[We] look at NVES and say, ‘Hang on, how can we offset that cost with hybrids and more efficient use of petrol?’ That works for us, and we’ll watch that market,” he said.

“[We] need to be more efficient towards NVES with [our] ICE vehicles. We’ve got a more efficient Patrol coming, with a V6 instead of the V8, [and] we’ve got a more efficient Navara [just launching]. We’ve also got Qashqai, [which has] gone all ePower, [and] dropped all ICE.”

More intriguing is a new, bespoke dual-cab ute all but confirmed by Humberstone – the Nissan Frontier Pro. 

First revealed in early 2025, the Frontier is part of a Nissan JV with China’s Dongfeng, and could rival the BYD Shark 6, Ford Ranger PHEV and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV.

“We’re quietly optimistic,” said Humberstone, when asked if the Frontier Pro would launch in Australia. “We should have some news in the next couple of months, and we’ve fought very hard [to bring the Frontier Pro ton Australia].

“At best [the Frontier will launch] in 2027… We’re very keen.” 

The Frontier is likely to head a Dongfeng-developed product offensive that will introduce “potentially one or two” additional vehicles into the Australian market. These cars are tipped to be both “in the commercial and passenger segment”, and will likely be hybrid or full EV. 

With the recent cessation of the Juke, and Nissan all-round lacking a volume-selling small SUV, an affordable JV rival to the BYD Atto 3, MG S5, and Kia EV3 could see Nissan electric vehicle sales rise out of obscurity.

“Both Ariya and Leaf will be small volume sellers because they’re premium… Where the EV space is going at the moment, is cheapest, and most competitive,” said Humberstone.

“Anything down at that EV end – that’s at the bottom of the pricing – has to be a joint venture [via Dongfeng].”

The Nissan Leaf small electric SUV was due to debut early this year, but has been delayed. The related medium electric Ariya debuted in September last year, starting from $55,840 before on-road costs.

From September 2025 to February 2026, only 145 Ariyas have been registered, according to VFACTs industry data.