Nissan is now just a week away from revealing its new-generation Navara, and the important ute will break cover with local know-how under the skin.
The new Nissan Navara might be a Mitsubishi Triton under the skin, but it’ll launch in Australia with local roads in mind, with testing recently taking place thanks to Premcar.
Formerly known as Ford Performance Vehicles, Premcar made a big transition before the start of the decade to become Nissan’s local engineering firm of choice, subsequently creating off-road focused versions of the current Navara and Patrol under the Warrior banner.
Now Premcar has been tasked with improving the new Navara at a development level, undertaking local testing, tuning and validation to make sure what could be Nissan’s best-selling model in Australia is up to the task of local customers.
“We were cooperating with Premcar to make sure all the ride and handling performance we want from the new Navara is delivered,” Nissan Australia senior manager local product development and enhancement, Tim Davis, said in a media release.
“They’ve put it through a brutal local tuning and testing program right here in Australia.”
According to Nissan, Premcar’s local testing regime included on- and off-road driving, testing the Navara both empty and fully laden, plus at its maximum towing capacity, believed to be a 3500kg rating if it carries directly over from the Triton.
“For almost four decades, we’ve been engineering and thoroughly evaluating cars locally, including generation on generation of utes and off-roaders,” Nissan Australia deputy director marketing and mobility, Warwick Daly, said.
“It’s about ensuring Australians and New Zealanders can have complete confidence – knowing your vehicle will perform when and how you expect it to.
“The new Navara is the product of local engineering experience and know-how. It’s tuned and tested for our customers.”
Nissan’s new Navara isn’t the only ute to undertake local testing. The Ford Ranger’s platform was almost exclusively developed in Australia, while Toyota’s regional division also had a hand in making sure the new HiLux, revealed this week, is suitable for Down Under customers.
On top of this, even some of the newest players to the market are investing in Australian development in a bid to snatch sales off each other in what is one of the most competitive segments.
Nissan is due to uncover the new Navara on November 19, Australian time.
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