More difficult than expected
Nissan is about to split the Pathfinder line into two parts. The relatively young current generation of Pathfinder will be joined by a model of the same name that Nissan has developed especially for – you guessed it – the Chinese market.
Although you cannot order a Nissan Pathfinder in the Netherlands, there is a good chance that the model name will tell you something. That may very well be true. Between 2000 and 2001, Nissan briefly sold a Pathfinder in the Netherlands. A few years later, the model name returned to Europe. Nissan then stuck it on the SUV brother of the Navara, although that model was known as a Frontier outside Europe. Nowadays you can no longer buy a Nissan Pathfinder in the Netherlands for years, but in the United States, among others, there is still an SUV with that name. In fact, the current generation Pathfinder is only two years old (photos 8 to 11). Nissan would also like to sell an SUV with the name Pathfinder in China, but it is not taking the easiest route.
Nissan Pathfinder (current model).
Nissan could build the current Pathfinder locally in China, but it apparently sees no point in that. The brand presents the Nissan Pathfinder Concept on the exhibition floor of Auto Shanghai, a preview of an SUV developed specifically for the Chinese market. You would think that it is a slightly modified version of the current Pathfinder, but nothing could be further from the truth. The car has its own packaging. Not only are the front and rear different, the complete window and shoulder section differs from the existing model. Although that does not necessarily mean that everything under the skin is also new, it seems that Nissan is preparing its own Pathfinder for the Chinese market.
The last Nissan Pathfinder sold here was called Frontier elsewhere.
The interior of the Nissan Pathfinder Concept bears similarities to that of the existing one. For example, the placement of the outlets of the ventilation system roughly corresponds, but the Chinese Pathfinder still has its own interior. The center tunnel is higher and the overall shape of the dashboard is also completely different. Nissan does not release technical specifications. The lack of exhaust pipes at the bottom of the rear could indicate that Nissan wants to turn the Chinese Pathfinder into an EV, but that cannot be said for sure.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl