Incoming 'evolved' Navara will, reportedly, again come from Thailand as the all-new Mitsubishi Triton-based generation has only been approved for Australasia.
Nissan has seemingly indicated that despite local production of the Navara ending later this year, a complete withdrawal similar to the Mazda BT-50 won’t be happening anytime soon.
End of an era
Last week, the Japanese brand confirmed years of speculative rumours that it had sold its Rosslyn plant outside Pretoria to Chinese automaker Chery, who will fully occupy the 60-year-old plant by the middle of the year.
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Despite ending six decades of local production, the brand won’t be departing the local market and will instead become an importer from facilities largely in India and Thailand.
The latter market will, once again, become the sourcing hub for the Navara where local market-bound models originated till 2021, when assembly moved to Rosslyn to boost capacity alongside the NP200.
This according to Nissan Africa President Jordi Vila, who told IOL Motoring that Navara production will come to an end in May in readiness for Chery’s takeover.
“There is a plus and a minus. We lose production credits, but we also lose fixed costs. Our intention is to keep price continuity where we operate,” Vila said.
NOT Mitsubishi based
Teased as part of the RE:NISSAN restructuring plan announced last year by then new CEO Ivan Espinoisa, the revised, internally named D23 Navara will be produced alongside the all-new D27, based on the Mitsubishi Triton, which is exclusive to Australasia.
“For us, the most important is to design and make cars for South Africa and export to Africa. Australia is getting a different car because the market there is different.
“So, we are continuing with the current Navara,” Nissan Managing Director for South Africa and Independent African Markets, Maciej Klenkiewicz, told the media at a roundtable discussion in September last year.
Changes coming
Although hailing from 2014, with its last update having taken place in 2020, the D23 will have a refresh inside with what Nissan calls “enhanced infotainment and an impressive suite of advanced driver assist technologies”.
Set to also receive exterior tweaks, the so-called “evolved” Navara will debut first in Latin America where it is sold under the Frontier name, before heading to other export markets, now including South Africa.
The decision to continue with both models in a dual capacity role will see the D23 retain the coil spring rear suspension rather than receiving the D27’s leaf springs.
It, however, remains to be seen whether South Africa will revert to the 2.3-litre YS23 twin-turbodiesel engine.
Since the onset of local production, the Navara had been powered by the older single-turbo 2.5-litre YD25DDTI used in the previous D40 generation, the NP300 Hardbody and the Pathfinder due to costs and greater simplicity than the more advanced 2.3.
Three new SUVs coming
Aside from the Navara, Nissan will bolster its line-up with the Renault Duster-based Tekton and the all-new Y63 Patrol.
Following later will be a still unseen seven-seater SUV based on the Renault Boreal, which will be positioned above the former but below the X-Trail.
Refreshed at the end of 2024, the Magnite will remain the brand’s entry-level offering, thus completing an eventual passenger vehicle range of five SUVs.
Expect more details of the mentioned products to emerge over the next few months.
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