Globally, Nissan is in the middle of a major turnaround strategy. It has now revived a global nameplate which we Indians are very familiar with. The ‘Nissan Terrano’ has been reborn as a plug-in hybrid SUV. Before you get excited, this isn’t the Terrano we knew, and will be first launched in China. This launch is known to happen within a year. The company has made it clear that in addition to China, ‘selected global markets’ will get the SUV. It remains unclear if India is one of those.
Nissan showcased the resurrected Terrano concept at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show. It looks butch, boxy and very SUV-ish. This off-road SUV concept has a body-on-frame design and will make it to production in 2027.
Key highlights of the new Terrano’s design include chunky body cladding, squared-off wheel arches, unique LED DRLs, all-LED lighting, tailgate-mounted spare wheel, rugged skid plates, and functional roof rails. This concept is a nod to old-school SUV designs. The production version will likely come with a lot of accessorisation opportunities as well.
The concept has good ground clearance and wears chunky off-road tyres. The bumper corners have been chopped off to maximize approach and departure angles.
Nissan has clearly labelled the new Terrano as a concept. However, it looks like this can be taken into production without much delay. China, as mentioned before, will be the first market to get it. The carmaker hasn’t revealed the size of this SUV, but it appears to be smaller than the Patrol sold abroad. It is, however, bigger than the Terrano that we previously had in India.
When it enters production, the Terrano will be assembled in China together with Nissan’s Chinese partner Dongfeng.
Nissan has confirmed that the new Terrano will have a plug-in hybrid powertrain, although it does not specify the details of this setup or name other vehicles that use the same. Speculations suggest that it could be borrowed from the Frontier Pro PHEV that made its Chinese entry last year. This hybrid truck is considered Nissan’s first ‘true plug-in hybrid’.
If the the Terrano actually borrows its internals from the truck, it would come with a 1.5L petrol engine mated to an electric motor and a 33 kWh battery pack. This setup has a combined output of 402 hp and 800Nm and claims an all-electric range of 135km per charge (CLTC cycle), in pure electric mode.
The Terrano is a global nameplate. This SUV used to be on sale till early 2000s in many international markets. The last global Terrano sold in Europe had 3.0L and 2.7L engines. In India, however, Nissan sold a rebadged Duster as the Terrano. It remained on sale till 2020.
Fast forward to 2026 and Nissan is gearing up to launch a rebadged version of the new Duster. It will, however, be called Tekton and is expected to arrive in mid-2026. It will be based on the same RGMP platform as the third-generation Duster and will use the same set of engines- 1.0L turbocharged petrol and 1.3L turbo-petrol. Nissan will also introduce a hybrid version later, powered by a 1.8L strong hybrid setup.
Nissan India has also outlined its plans beyond the Tekton. It will launch a seven-seater C-SUV in early 2027. This will most likely be a rebadged version of Renault’s upcoming seven-seater. Nissan has, however, made it clear that this SUV will have its design DNA and will borrow styling inspirations from global models like the Patrol.
The name ‘Terrano’ holds strong brand recall in India. It would make sense to introduce the new Terrano’s production version as a rugged, body-on-frame seven-seater hybrid SUV. If Nissan would actually take this direction remains unclear at the time of writing.
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