It’s big, bold, and flying in the face of ‘electric everything’ car engineering it is petrol-only.

The latest Y63 Nissan Patrol is the seventh generation of a full-size Japanese off-roader that traces its origins back to 1951.

Like the current Y62, the next- generation Patrol is large: 5.2 metres long, weighing in at 2.7 tons, with V6 engine options  including a 3.5-litre twin-turbo that develops 316kW and 700Nm.

There are no diesels and no hybrids.

A big part of the reason for that is because of where the Patrol will be sold: 28 countries including Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the Philippines.

It will not be sold in Europe. Or Japan, for that matter.

This is a car designed, engineered, and developed from the ground up to excel in the Middle East. Nissan sells more Patrols in the Middle East (more than 20,000 a year) than anywhere else on the planet, including America (where it’s badged the Nissan Armada).

The inclusion of Australia is good news for New Zealand, because it means the big SUV will be seen on local roads.

In places where fuel tends to cost less, the move to electrification isn’t a pressing concern. No Middle East countries are  pushing forward plans to increase use of electric cars on their roads. Funny that.

The new Patrol is hardly a fuel hog, though: its official economy figure is 8.62l/100km, and the fuel tank holds 100 litres.

Once sold in 90 territories, the seventh- gen Patrol will only be available in 28. And as the market has shrunk, the Patrol has  been deliberately targeted into those areas and become more specialised.

The Patrol still uses body-on-frame construction, though it dropped live-axles with the end of the fifth-generation Y61 in 2010. It’s all independent suspension, newly air-sprung and height adjustable, and now features a nine-speed automatic gearbox  complete with low range.

The Patrol has a proud history. A first-generation Patrol was the first car to scale Mount Fuji in 1951; a second-gen Patrol was the first to cross Australia’s Simpson Desert.