Nissan gives first glimpse of incoming Thai-made facelift Navara

Ahead of its South African market launch in the final quarter of this year, Nissan has provided the first official details of the facelifted Navara.

Imported

Set to become the final new or revised model, the Yokohama-based brand will unveil this year after the updated X-Trail and all-new Tekton. The Navara will again be sourced from the Samut Prakan facility in Thailand that produced it until assembly moved to the former Nissan plant in Rosslyn in 2021.

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Depicted LE Plus will become the mid-range model for now. Picture: Charl Bosch

Although teased as the “evolved” Navara last year, the exterior updates, for South Africa at least, appear minor from those applied five years ago, which culminated in production moving to the plant bought by Chery in April.

Original teaser image of the facelift Navara seemingly suggests this variant will now only be sold in South America as the Frontier. Picture: Nissan

As such, the “teased” model, which sported a new grille and headlights, will more than likely be reserved for South America, where the Navara is sold as the Frontier in a related capacity to the name-equivalent model marketed in North America.

What to expect?

Continuing with the internally named D23, which debuted globally in 2014, and not the Australasian D27 based on the Mitsubishi Triton, the biggest revision will be what was described as an updated interior with “enhanced infotainment and an impressive suite of advanced driver assist technologies”.

In addition, the preliminary model range sees the current XE, SE, LE and Pro-2X variants all being absent, while the limited edition Stealth falls away as does the Australian-developed Pro-4X Warrior.

This leaves the SE Plus, LE Plus and Pro-4X as the only mentioned variants, with only the former retaining the same interior as the present model.

Welcome upgraded interior

For the latter pair, Nissan has redesigned the dashboard to accommodate a new integrated infotainment system, still of unknown size, as well as a new display for the climate control panel.

New interior will feature on the mid-spec LE Plus and the flagship Pro-4X. Picture: Charl Bosch

While the steering wheel and instrument cluster appear unchanged, both versions receive a new centre console, complete with a new gear lever and, in the case of the Pro-4X, red stitch work.

Same engine and coils

As is known by now, the coil-spring rear suspension remains as opposed to the leaf springs used on the Triton-based D27.

Also confirmed is the 2.5-litre YD25DDTI turbodiesel engine and not the twin-turbo 2.3-litre YS23, which will continue to produce 140kW/450Nm.

While not confirmed, the seven-speed automatic gearbox is set to remain; however, the future of the six-speed manual remains unknown despite it being available on current versions of the SE Plus.

At the same time, Nissan is yet to state whether the single cab will still be offered, as the current variants are offered solely in two of the dropped trim levels, monikers XE and SE.

More soon

For the moment, no other details are known. However, expect more to emerge within the coming months leading up to the still-to-be announced launch date.

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