Set to go on-sale in Australia before year end, the first all-new Navara in 11 years will be based on the Mitsubishi Triton, but with Nissan-bespoke changes and styling.
Reported as early as 2023 to be debuting in 2025, a newly uncovered claim from Australia has alleged that Nissan will be debuting the all-new Navara well before the end of the year in readiness for the commencing of sales in early 2026.
First teased in Nissan’s Arc product presentation last year, the initial claim of a 2025 unveiling only received expansion by then Nissan Head of Product and Product Strategy, Ivan Espinosa, telling carsales.com.au that the Navara will continue to offer internal combustion engines with electrification possible in the form of a plug-in hybrid.
In a subsequent confirmation of the Navara’s time of arrival, Nissan stated that it would introduce a handful of new models to Australia in 2025 and 2026, one being a new bakkie the brand’s Chairperson for the Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania region, Guillaume Cartier, didn’t directly identify as the new Navara on the sidelines of the all-new Patrol’s unveiling last year.
Long known to be based on the new Mitsubishi Triton as part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s “leader-follower strategy” announced six years ago, drive.com.au reports that a fourth quarter 2025 time of reveal has been approved for the debut of the replacement for the current 11-year old D23 Navara.
In accordance with the mentioned claims made two years ago, the publication states that sales, in Australia, will kick-off in the final quarter of the year, thus alluding to a wider roll-out in other markets in 2026.
Besides its Triton foundation, the Navara will also swap the current YS23 2.3-litre and YD25 2.5-litre diesel engines for Mitsubishi’s new generation 2.4-litre 4N16 that produces between 110kW/330Nm and 150kW/470Nm depending on the number of turbochargers.
At the same time, the current seven-speed automatic gearbox will be dropped for Mitsubishi’s six-speed on self-shifting models, while the controversial coil-spring rear suspension will be dropped in favour of traditional leaf springs.
“We looking at how we can be okay to cover the pick-up market with the specification we [can get] from Mitsubishi”, Cartier said at the time.
In a related report, Nissan Oceana Managing Director Andrew Humberstone said despite the leader-follower principle, the new Navara won’t simply be a rebadged Triton as considerable effort has gone into the final product to make it feel like a Nissan.
“We’re going to make a lot of changes to the product to make sure it’s in-line with Nissan’s expectations,” Humberstone told drive.com.au.
“Yes, we have a relationship [with Mitsubishi], but that relationship could be effectively with any supplier”.
Aside from definite details being unknown, Nissan has also remined mum on whether the new Navara, for the local and export markets, will continue to be made its Rosslyn Plant outside Pretoria once officially unveiled.
At a post-Patrol launch roundtable discussion though, Cartier, when asked about the replacement for the NP200, hinted that Navara assembly would continue as it continues to investigate the most suitable product for production of a second model.
“[Rosslyn is what we call] a frame plant and we are looking into a second model because we need a second model to sustain the operation in South Africa. What I can say is that we are looking at [a second model],” he said.
As it stands, no further details or sightings of any pre-production prototypes have emerged, however, expect this change within the coming weeks and months.
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