Remember the Nissan Murano? While it hasn’t been on sale in Australia for almost a decade, the third generation of the premium-ish crossover has been on sale in North America and China since 2014 — and its long awaited replacement had just been revealed.
The 2025 Nissan Murano is the fourth instalment of the company’s five-seat family SUV that rivals the likes of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Mazda CX-70 in the US.
In its latest evolution, Nissan says it’s the third model in its Arc Business plan, following the redesigned Kicks crossover and Armada (Patrol) SUV.
Compared to the slinkier designs of older generations, the fourth-gen Murano debuts a new look that’s very obviously inspired by the Ariya electric SUV, which also inspired the redesigns of the aforementioned Kicks and Armada.
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Dubbed ‘energetic excellence’, the new design theme centres around a new horizontally slatted grille design with split headlight units, a full-width LED tail light bar and alloy wheels up to 21 inches in diameter. Two-tone paint is also available.
Inside the links to the Ariya continue, with dual 12.3-inch high-resolution displays sitting in one conjoined housing, featuring Nissan’s latest infotainment system with Google built-in – which includes Google Maps, and other apps downloadable from the tech giant’s online store.
Like the Ariya, there’s a line of capacitive buttons under the central air vents, partially hidden in the faux wood trim, to control the air-conditioning system.
Nissan also notes the availability of 64-colour ambient interior lighting, as well as an available 10-speaker Bose premium sound system.
The Murano is decked out with the company’s latest assistance and active safety systems including the ProPilot Assist semi-autonomous highway function; as well as two new features for the Murano in Invisible Hood View, which uses the camera feeds to create a view that ‘sees through’ the bonnet, as well as the 3D Surround View Monitor parking camera system which offers eight virtual vantage points around the vehicle.
Under the bonnet of the new Murano is Nissan’s 2.0-litre VCT variable compression turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, which puts out 241 horsepower (180kW) and 260 lb-ft (352Nm) of torque.
That’s down 15kW from the 3.5-litre V6 of the outgoing car, but up 27Nm. Idle stop-start technology is now standard.
While some might mourn the demise of the VQ V6, those same folks will probably be cheering the fact the new Murano junks the old model’s continuously variable transmission (CVT) in favour a nine-speed automatic with paddle shifters.
Unlike some of its competitors, the new Murano isn’t available with hybrid or plug-in hybrid drivetrain. The lack of an electrified option has seen the Rogue (X-Trail to us) lose ground Stateside to the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.
Nissan will offer the Murano with both front-wheel drive and on-demand all-wheel drive, with the new generation also adopting frequency sensitive dampers and electric power steering for improved ride and handling.
The new Murano is 4900mm long, 1981mm wide, 1725mm tall, and rides on a 2824mm wheelbase, which makes it 13mm longer overall, 66mm wider and 36mm taller than the current car, although the wheelbase is unchanged.
As with its predecessor, the new fourth-generation Nissan Murano will be assembled at Nissan’s Smyrna plant in Tennessee, and will go on sale in the United States and Canada in early 2025.
It’s understood it’ll continue to be built only in left-hand drive.
Pricing for the new Murano will be released closer to showroom availability. Although the Murano is smaller, and features fewer seats than the Pathfinder, it sits above the more practical crossover in Nissan’s American model range.
The current third-generation Murano is priced from US$38,740 ($57,900), while the Pathfinder range begins at US$36,650 ($54,700). For those interested, Stateside the cheapest Ariya is US$39,590 ($59,100).
Would you want to see the Murano make a return to Australia? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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