Gilded Age: Refreshed Nissan Armada Seemingly Leaked Overseas

There’s a lot of Nissan commentary on these here pages today, but that’s just fine by us. You guys love talking value. Sure, Nissan’s Armada represents the pricey pinnacle of the brand’s SUV lineup, but it’s a fair bit cheaper than its Infiniti QX80 sibling. It’s also due for a mid-cycle refresh.

For its next iteration, the body-on-frame full-sizer brings some glitzy updates to the table, at least according to these Facebook shots of a next-gen Patrol headed to a Middle Eastern dealership.

Overseas, Nissan slaps the Patrol name on its biggest ‘ute, reserving the Spanish-sounding Armada moniker for us North Americans. “Armada” sounds regal and hints that the cumbersome vessel carries a hidden chest filled with gold; indeed, Nissan bills the SUV as “bold” and “sophisticated.” While the jury’s out on the truthfulness of that characterization, the upcoming model seems a more deserving candidate for those labels.

Despite the makeover only being skin deep, what skin we can see seems more expressive and glittery. The reworked fascia bears a taller grille done in Nissan corporate style, with lower openings gilded in chrome. The LEDs partially encircling the headlamps remain but become more pronounced, with a slice of fender panel splitting into the headlamp array. Side vents also grow taller, giving the vehicle an impression of added height. This is a ship of the line, after all.

Out back, chrome now extends the width of the liftgate, linking both tail lamp assemblies. While it’s hard to tell from the head-on angle, it seems the obnoxious and tacky faux front fender vent remains, and has perhaps grown larger. Oh well.

Inside the Patrol/Armada, the cabin brings additional changes, the most obvious and notable being a dual-screen arrangement on the center stack that mimics the one seen in the Infiniti QX50.

As stated before, Nissan isn’t expected to tinker with the Armada’s drivetrain for this refresh, so expect a carryover 5.6-liter V8 and seven-speed automatic. Though hardly the first vehicle to come to mind when one thinks of SUVs, the Armada remains a fairly consistent seller. With 22,102 units sold in the U.S. through the end of August, Armada volume fell 1.8 percent this year, but the past couple of calendar years has seen the model sell just as well as during its initial high point in the mid-2000s. Perhaps a dose of style and content will reverse the recent sales trend.

The updated Armada is expected to sail into port next year.

[Images: Saud AL Olayan/ Facebook, via Motor Authority]