America’s new Nissan Frontier spied, preview of facelift Navara?

The replacement for the almost 16 year old D40 generation Nissan Frontier has made its spy shot debut in North America ahead of its launch last year.

Essentially an Americanised version of the Navara that will seemingly get another facelift before an all-new model arrives in 2022, the still heavily disguised Frontier appears more substantial than the model it replaces, with a distinct American silhouette in the form of a larger front overhang than the model Nissan will produce in South Africa from next year.

Pictured by Autoblog, the extensive black-and-white circled motif wrapping makes identifying the newcomer somewhat hard to make out, although as indicated by the product presentation video released two months ago, it will receive the same headlights as the facelift Patrol and could well retain the 231kW/381Nm 3.8-litre petrol V6 and nine-speed automatic that become available in the D40 back in February.

As evident by the video, the Navara will come with the same Patrol inspired facia, albeit not as rounded as that of the Frontier while also keeping the roof rails and flared outer sides of the loadbox. Not expected to be carried over from the Frontier though is the mentioned V6 engine, as the Navara is set to continue with the current 2.3-litre turbodiesel engine in single and twin-turbo guises.

While still to be confirmed, the oil-burner, which makes 140kW/450Nm in twin-turbo guise, could well be updated to rival the 157kW/500Nm produced by the Ford Ranger’s 2.0-litre bi-turbo and the facelift Toyota Hilux’s upgraded 150kW/500Nm 2.8 GD-6, however, it has to be noted that this is purely speculative at present.

In spite of the different powertrains, both could receive the same interior, which will be brand-new in the case of the Frontier, but updated in the Navara, with the same set to apply for the features as well as safety and driver assistance systems. What’s more, the Frontier is set to ride on the same platform as the Navara, but, again, this remains to be confirmed.

Sales of the Frontier are anticipated to start next year, but as mentioned, it will premiere later this year with the Navara either following or bowing ahead.

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