Nissan X-Trail Rock Creek e-Power: More rugged-looking hybrid SUV a possibility for Australia

The Nissan X-Trail Rock Creek is now available in Australia, bringing more rugged styling but no extra off-road ability – and it isn’t available with hybrid power.

Now available to order and priced from $48,315 before on-road costs, the Rock Creek is being offered here exclusively with a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine mated with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) and all-wheel drive.

That’s despite an e-Power hybrid version being offered just across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand.

“I think the availability to potentially turn it on is 100 per cent there,” Aleks Pecanac, Nissan Oceania’s senior X-Trail product manager, told CarExpert.

“We’ve got the car approved for both markets… We’re really trying to manage the grade line of complexity that we have. We get feedback from our dealer networks that simplicity is best.”

He explained Nissan doesn’t offer the mid-spec Ti in New Zealand, leaving a wide opening between the ST-L and flagship Ti-L for the new Rock Creek.

“If we were to put in the Rock Creek e-Power [in Australia], it would kind of overlap from a pricing perspective versus what we’ve got,” he added.

For context, all-wheel drive e-Power hybrid variants of the X-Trail are priced at $49,080 (ST-L), $54,580 (Ti) and $58,380 (Ti-L), all before on-road costs.

These variants carry a premium of between $3000 and $3800 over their all-wheel drive petrol counterparts, which would put the price of an X-Trail Rock Creek e-Power at at least $51,315 plus on-roads – well under a Ti e-Power AWD.

Over the ST-L, the Rock Creek brings a unique grille and 18-inch alloy wheels, plus various black and orange accents inside and out. It also adds “durable ballistic nylon-trimmed seats”, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 10.8-inch head-up display.

There are no all-terrain tyres fitted, as seen on the related Rogue Rock Creek in the US. Nor are there any off-road enhancements like improved cooling, a raised ride height, and a retuned transmission and suspension as seen in the Subaru Forester Wilderness offered overseas.

The Rock Creek effectively replaces the N-Trek in the local X-Trail lineup, which disappeared with this year’s facelift.

That variant, priced at $49,160 plus on-roads in all-wheel drive form, added various exterior tweaks like unique 18-inch alloy wheels and a dark-finish grille, while also adding water-resistant leatherette upholstery, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 10.8-inch head-up display over the ST-L.

“We do look after the two countries right, Australia and New Zealand. We do give them both autonomy, so sometimes the lineup isn’t quite the same,” Nissan Oceania managing director Steve Milette told CarExpert.

“And the dealers are asking us to simplify as much as we can, not just X-Trail but everything, try to simplify the vehicle lineup, so adding one more kind of goes against the feedback. But if it is a high-demand feature, we’ve got the potential to do it.

“We will listen to the market if that’s a feature that we want.”

As the Rock Creek is offered here exclusively with petrol power and all-wheel drive, that also means it features a third row of seating – something no X-Trail e-Power is available with here in Australia, despite seven-seat hybrid variants being offered overseas.

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