√New Nissan Navara reportedly delayed in the US, due in Australia 2025

The launch of the next Nissan Navara in the US has been pushed back two years, a new report claims – however it is still due in Australian showrooms in 2025.

The US introduction of the next-generation Nissan Navara ute has been delayed by two model years – close to the end of this decade – according to a new overseas report.

However it may not have an impact on Australia, where the next-generation Navara is expected to arrive in late 2024 or in early 2025, borrowing much of its DNA from the new Mitsubishi Triton due in local showrooms from February 2024.

Drive exclusively reported in January 2023 that the new Nissan Navara was planned to enter production in Thailand for markets such as Australia in the middle of 2024, before expanding to factories in Mexico and the US in successive years.

MORE: Exclusive – New Nissan Navara ute due next year

What the new Nissan Navara could look like, illustrated by Theottle.

It would be 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 – as the latest-generation D23 Navara available in Australia and Asia since 2014 was never sold in the US and Canada.

They continued with the older D40 model – which went on sale in the US in 2004, where it’s sold as the Nissan Frontier – before it was replaced by a ‘new’ model in 2021, with a fresh body draped over a revised, not brand-new chassis.

It was planned to have a shorter-than-usual life cycle, serving as a stop-gap until the all-new ‘global’ Navara/Frontier went into production in Nissan USA’s Canton, Mississippi factory in mid to late-2026.

A new report from respected industry journal Automotive News – citing a memo to Nissan factory suppliers – now claims the end of production of the current US Frontier has been extended from Model Year 2027 (MY27), to Model Year 2029 (MY29).

Given US vehicle model years start much sooner than in Australia, it now appears the new Navara will not reach US showrooms before Model Year 2030 – or sometime in calendar-year 2029.

However – given the life cycle extension applies only to the US-market Frontier – it may not have an impact on Australia and other markets outside of North America, where the current Navara is sold instead, built in different factories to the US vehicle.

According to a “supplier briefed on the matter” speaking to Automotive News, the previously-planned end of production date would have “come just as the Canton factory is gearing up to build new Nissan and Infiniti electric vehicles.”

Executives are said to be avoiding “a major model launch during the time they’re starting up” electric-car production in the Mississippi factory, said the Automotive News source.

The industry journal goes as far to say their source is not sure the Frontier “will receive another redesign” – and speculates the delay could prompt Nissan to go back to the drawing board with the car, to incorporate electric power.

According to Automotive News, the launch of a new Frontier would fight for space in the Canton factory with Nissan and Infiniti electric sedans due in 2026, a Nissan electric SUV due in early 2027, and an Infiniti luxury electric SUV due in early 2028.

These new model launches are backed by a $US500 million investment into the factory.

Citing the memo to suppliers, Automotive News reports Nissan is targeting production of 81,339 Frontiers for Model Year 2028, and 65,599 examples for Model Year 2029 – a decline that would be representative of a model at the end of its life.

As reported by Drive in January, Nissan is believed to be pushing ahead with the development of what will be the first new Navara in a decade for markets such as Australia.

However to share development costs, it will be closely related to the new Mitsubishi Triton, unveiled last month ahead of first Australian arrivals next year.

For now it is unclear how much differentiation there will be between the vehicles, and the Nissan will gain a unique engine, interior and body, or if the Japanese car maker will make only modest changes to Mitsubishi’s work.

Plans seen by Drive show much of the frame underpinning both vehicles will be shared.

Mitsubishi executives have expressed interest in an electric Triton, if it is technically feasible – while Nissan executives have said an electric Navara would not be possible until next-generation solid-state battery technology is ready in 2028.

According to a previous report from Automotive News, Nissan is studying the feasibility of a Navara-sized electric ute – referred to in its report as a “lightweight electric pick-up” – for North America.

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