2021 Nissan Armada Previewed by New Patrol

While you’ve already had a peak at the refreshed Nissan Armada thanks to a Saudi Arabian car dealer who enjoys Facebook, here’s the best look yet at the changes coming to Nissan’s biggest ute. Yes, it’s the Armada’s overseas Patrol twin, but expect the carryover to be essentially complete — minus the Patrol’s base V6 engine.

Featuring pricier-looking exterior styling and a greater compliment of interior niceties, the Patrol/Armada’s changes are not unlike those found on the SUV’s Infiniti QX80 platform mate. Recall that the QX80’s 2018MY upgrades earned it a not-insignificant sales increase.

Any sales increase, especially one for a big-bucks, high-margin vehicle is music to Nissan’s ears right now. Things aren’t going particularly well for the automaker.

While the refreshed Patrol enters service overseas as a 2020 model, Armada buyers will have to wait until the 2021 model year before getting a taste of modernity. As seen here, the biggest changes can be found up front. Nissan’s corporate V-motion grille is present and accounted for, flanked by new headlamps partly encircled by solid LED strips, instead of the backyard patio strings found on the current model.

There’s a hint of modern BMW grotesquery in the way the lower air opening seems to extend through the side vents and up to the headlamps, though the same can be said about recent Cadillac products. Fog lamps are now highlighted by copious amounts of shiny gilding. Overall, it’s modern, and a departure from before. Isn’t that what refreshes are all about?

Not much changes along the vehicle’s flanks (the cheesy fender vents remain), but the tail lamps receive the same “boomerang” treatment as the headlights. The top portion of those lights now extend further into the liftgate, joined by a chrome strip. Put together, the changes to the rear serve to make the vehicle feel less tall and ungainly.

Inside, we can see the same over-under dual screen arrangement in the center stack as seen in the earlier Facebook photos. A nod to added luxury can also be seen, what with the hand-stitched leather wheel covering and the quilted leather seats. Again, this is similar to what Nissan bestowed on the refreshed QX80.

The Armada is far from Nissan’s best-selling model, but no automaker can afford to leave a full-size SUV languishing in today’s market. To its credit, the model’s long-overdue 2017 restyle did send sales soaring, and the decline in volume seen through August of this year (down 1.8 percent) is less than the YTD decline (-2.8 percent) incurred by Nissan’s light truck offerings as a whole.

[Images: Nissan]