Nissan Australia set to reveal its Shark 6 plug-in ute rival this week

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Nissan will reveal an “electrified addition” to its Australian lineup – its importer’s first PHEV model – on Thursday 8 October, thought to be an off-road-ready plug-in hybrid.

There are two candidates, both of which are products of Nissan’s joint venture with Chinese carmaker Dongfeng: the Frontier Pro already sold in China, or the closely related Terrano unveiled in concept car form in April.

The Frontier Pro dual-cab ute looks most likely – and the teaser shown by Nissan Australia closely resembles the front end of the plug-in ute, while also featuring its distinctive yellow paint.

The Terrano is a more conventional SUV but is expected to share the Frontier Pro’s underpinnings, similarly to how the Ford Everest is an SUV-ified Ford Ranger. Both use a body-on-frame construction.

In China at least, the Frontier Pro PHEV combines a 1.5L turbocharged petrol engine, running through a hybrid-specific four-speed auto, with a single electric motor at the front. 

Car News China reports combined outputs of 320kW and 800Nm, and a 3500kg towing capacity – impressive, as the latter isn’t a given with hybrid utes. The Terrano is very likely to share that powertrain. 

Speaking to Chasing Cars several months ago, Nissan Australia executive Richard Candler indicated the Terrano would have three rows of seats, and could therefore plug the gap in Nissan’s line-up left by the Pathfinder.

Obvious rivals for the Frontier Pro are the Ford Ranger PHEV (from $61,000 before on-roads) and BYD Shark 6 (from $55,900 before on-roads).

The Terrano would line up against the BYD Denza B5 (from $77,185 before on-roads), Ford’s upcoming Chinese-sourced Bronco Basecamp (pricing unknown, $60,000 speculated) and the GWM Tank 500 hybrid (from $75,990 before on-roads).

Tank test

Mindful of the pitfalls of Chinese cars in Australia, namely hyperactive safety systems and poor suspension, Nissan Australia has been testing the Frontier Pro in Australia, to raise it to our standards.

It’s speculated Melbourne engineering firm Premcar has overhauled the suspension of Australian-market Frontier Pro. Premcar is the company behind the Nissan Navara Warrior and Mitsubishi Triton Raider.

Last month, a prototype of the Terrano was spotted in Victoria in what’s been speculated as a benchmarking test against a present GWM Tank 500.

While the Tank routes both its engine and electric motor through a nine-speed auto, early evidence suggests Nissan’s PHEV system will instead power the rear or all four wheels from the engine’s four-speed auto, and the front wheels from the motor alone.