New-generation Nissan Patrol previewed by Infiniti QX80 prototype

And with it, our first confirmed glimpse at the new-shape Nissan Patrol.

While there’s no likelihood of Australia getting the Infiniti QX80 – the luxury sibling to the Nissan Patrol – these images are our best look yet at the Nissan twin, before the Patrol’s possible unveiling in late 2023 or sometime in 2024.

Earlier this week, a senior Infiniti executive told US media the concept for the new QX80 – dubbed the QX80 Monograph Concept – would be shown in June 2023.

Much in the same way the Lexus LX is the luxury version of the Toyota LandCruiser, the Infiniti QX80 is the luxury version of the Nissan Patrol, aimed for markets such as the US and the Middle East.

As previously reported by Drive, unconfirmed reports suggest the new-generation Patrol may be a heavily-revised version of the current 13-year-old model – though these spy photos appear to lend weight to that claim.

The Infiniti looks to join the split headlight trend seen on many new cars, with a thin strip of LED daytime-running lights below the forward edge of the bonnet, while the main beams are hidden in a unit integrated lower down with outermost air vents in the front bumper.

The vents on the quarter panels behind the front wheel arches have been redesigned, while further back the pull door handles have been replaced with flush-mounted items.

While the wedge-shaped D-pillar is behind camouflage, we can see the second row of doors now use a large single pane of glass, rather than smaller winding window and fixed quarter glass as on the current model.

It’s likely a number of these design changes will be carried over to the Patrol.