√Exclusive: New Nissan Navara ute due next year
The next-generation Nissan Navara is due in showrooms by the end of next year – with DNA from the next Mitsubishi Triton – according to documents unearthed by Drive.
EXCLUSIVE
The next-generation 2025 Nissan Navara is due to be unveiled next year – and could be in Australian showrooms by the end of 2024 pending any delays, Drive has learned.
Documents seen by Drive show the first new-generation Nissan Navara ute in a decade is due to roll off the Thailand production line in the middle of 2024.
The new Nissan Navara is due about nine to 12 months behind the vehicle on which it is based – and has been developed alongside – the new Mitsubishi Triton.
Australian showroom arrival timing is yet to be locked in, but if the first vehicles are produced in mid 2024, it could be in local Nissan showrooms by the end of 2024 or in early 2025 – pending any delays.
As reported previously, the next Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton are being developed side-by-side, as part of cost-reducing plans under the Alliance between Nissan and Mitsubishi and French partner Renault.
Under a strategy known as “leader, follower” – where one brand takes charge of the development of a particular vehicle, and the other brand adapts the vehicle to suit its needs – Mitsubishi has been nominated to lead the engineering of the two new utes.
This is expected to mean the next Mitsubishi Triton and Nissan Navara will share their underpinnings, but have unique bodywork.
Drive understands that – at minimum – elements of the frame beneath the new Navara and Triton will be shared. It remains to be seen if they will share one common engine or retain their own.
For now it is unclear how many external parts will be shared with the Nissan and Mitsubishi utes.
The Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 twins have unique bodywork draped over common mechanicals. The latest Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok twins share windows, side mirrors, door handles and roof panels, as well as mechanical components under the skin.
Few details are known about the next Nissan Navara – and its Mitsubishi Triton twin – as only a handful prototypes have been caught on camera on the road, and executives have remained tight-lipped on details.
Mystery also surrounds the engines of both vehicles. It is unclear if the utes would share a Nissan engine, Mitsubishi engine or have their own unique motors.
If one of the two brands supplies the engine for both vehicles, it’s not known if the existing diesel engines – a 2.3-litre single- and twin-turbo four-cylinder in the Nissan, or a 2.4-litre single-turbo four-cylinder in the Mitsubishi – would be carried over into the new generations.
It also remains to be seen if the current Mitsubishi Triton’s full-time Super Select II four-wheel-drive system will be available on the next model – and if Nissan will have access to it for the new Navara.
Executives have previously poured cold water on plans for a turbo-diesel V6 – but the partnership with Mitsubishi could open the door for plug-in hybrid for Nissan’s new ute, or the company’s own e-Power technology bound for the Qashqai and X-Trail family SUVs.
Information seen by Drive suggests a hybrid or electric version of either ute is unlikely to be available from launch, however such models could eventually follow during the lifecycles of each vehicle.
Other questions remain about the two new utes – will they come with four-wheel disc brakes, how much larger than today’s models will they be, will the trays be able to fit Euro pallets between the wheel arches (as per the latest Ford Ranger and both Volkswagen Amarok generations), and are Ford Ranger Raptor-rivalling off-road models planned?
As previously reported by Drive, testing of Mitsubishi Triton prototypes is underway in Europe and Australia – but examples of the new Nissan Navara have not yet been spied on the road.
Information seen by Drive shows the next-generation Nissan Navara is bound for North America in 2026 – the first time Nissan has sold the same “mid-size” ute in the US and the rest of the world in more than a decade.
Prior to the mid 2010s, the Navara utes sold in Australia, Europe, Asia and North America – where it’s known as the Frontier – were based on one vehicle, with different engines and minor trim changes to suit different markets and factories.
But the latest-generation D23 Nissan Navara sold in Australia was not sold in the US and Canada. Those markets retained the existing ‘D40’ model, which arrived in US showrooms in late 2004.
A new Nissan Frontier pick-up for North America was unveiled in 2021 – with a new body on top of an updated version of the old model’s chassis – but Drive understands this vehicle will be replaced early by the all-new Navara.
Confidential plans seen by Drive show after production of the new Nissan Navara begins in Thailand in mid 2024, it is due to commence two years later at Nissan’s factory in Mississippi, where the 2021-onwards Frontier (known as the D41) is built for the US and Canada.
The plans also show production of the next Nissan Navara is also due to begin towards the end of 2025 in Mexico, to supply vehicles for South American markets.
There, the vehicle is expected to replace the Frontier – with either the Frontier or Navara name – as with the US models.
The post Exclusive: New Nissan Navara ute due next year appeared first on Drive.
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