Current D23 Navara will seemingly receive one last update before bowing out in 2026. Image: Nissan
Rumoured since the latter stages of 2023 as heading for a possible 2025 reveal, Nissan, last week, provided a smidgen more clarity on the next generation Navara that will formally debut in 2026 based on the same platform as alliance partner Mitsubishi’s current Triton.
Teased for the first time in March as one of two bakkies in its “Arc” product roll-out programme, the other being the since revealed facelift North American Frontier, the later than initially reported reveal will seemingly provide Nissan with more time to develop its first hybrid bakkie using components from its sister brand.
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As such, the current D23 Navara, which received its current look as a part of a mid-life facelift four years ago, will seemingly undergo one final revision before bowing-out.
It will, therefore, result in an effective production lifecycle of 12 years, the shortest of any generation since the Navara’s nameplate founding on the two generations ago D22 that went under the Hardbody and then later NP300 Hardbody nameplate in South Africa.
Confirming the next generation Navara at a roundtable discussion in Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of the new Patrol’s unveiling, Nissan’s Chairperson for the Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania region, Guillaume Cartier, while not referring to the Navara by name, said it wants to maintain the current product line-up balance, especially in Australia, despite the market’s importance from a bakkie standpoint.
Seemingly but indirectly attributing Australia’s rapid move towards electrification as one of the reasons for the Navara’s 2026 unveiling, Cartier said; “We looking at how we can be okay to cover the pick-up market with the specification we [can get] from Mitsubishi.”
“Australia is moving quickly towards electrification, even to quick more us, so the time of the decision regarding electrification is tough, but we cannot sit and wait. We have a plan,” Cartier said.
Responding to a question by Australia’s carexpert.com.au about the electric hardware itself, Cartier said it will adopt a three-tier approach by first offering the Navara with a plug-in hybrid system, followed by a full electric.
Initially though, propulsion will still be provided by diesel engines Cartier confirmed will be provided Mitsubishi.
It, therefore, means that the Navara will drop the current Nissan-made 2.3-litre YS23 and older 2.5-litre YD25 oil-burners for Mitsubishi’s 2.4-litre 4N16 that produces between 110kW/330Nm and 150kW/470Nm in the Triton depending on the number of turbochargers.
“On the first one [diesel], we are with Mitsubishi. After that, we have technology in-house which is a solid-state battery, but that will take time,” Cartier said.
“We are piloting at the end of 2024, but that will be a game-changer. If this technology is as successful as we believe, we can electrify cars that are today unable to be electrified”.
While no mentioning of the next Navara continuing to be made in South Africa was made, speculation points to it possibly remaining in production at the Rosslyn facility outside Pretoria versus the Thai-variant exported to Australia.
This after Cartier’s remarks that it is looking into a second model to replace the discontinued NP200 as a means of fully utilising the plant that at present, only produces the Navara for South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
“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.
In a statement to carmag.co.za in August last year confirming the NP200’s demise, Nissan, in another seemingly indirect assurance about the Navara’s continuation, said; “The Rosslyn manufacturing plant is the light commercial vehicle hub for Africa, and the locally-produced Nissan Navara is a core model that will enable Nissan’s ambition across the continent.
“Nissan remains fully committed to South Africa and the wider continent as the last frontier of the automotive industry”.
For the moment, no further details about the next generation Navara is known, however, expectations are that some could well emerge either officially or as leaks heading into 2025 and ultimately, the planned unveiling in 2026.
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