Nissan MD: Incoming SUVs and ‘new’ Navara shows we are staying

Nissan has reaffirmed its commitment to South Africa by announcing that it will bring a series of upgrades to the locally built Navara as part of its range renewal already bolstered by the facelift Magnite and lightly updated X-Trail.

60 years not ending

“South Africa is not only the headquarters of our operations in [Africa], but also the entire continent. Nissan has been in South Africa for 60 years and we are committed South Africa and Africa,” Nissan Managing Director for South Africa and Independent African Markets, Maciej Klenkiewicz, told the media at a roundtable discussion in Johannesburg on Tuesday (9 September).

An event that coincided with the unveilings of the updated X-Trail and returning special edition Magnite Kuro, Klenkiewicz said the automaker’s well publicised challenges regarding its finances and jobs losses haven’t spilled over to Africa where it hasn’t been as hard hit as in, largely, North America.

“Africa is in quite a good shape looking to product portfolio, as well as the fact that we have a second factory in Egypt,” he said.

“We are also working closely with India, so I can assure you, a sourcing plant for the products coming to South Africa will be competitive, brand-new, well designed and fulfil customer’s expectations”.

Aside from the Magnite, the reliance on the mentioned facility in Chennai will expanded to include two new models widely believed to be sourced from alliance partner, Renault.

Known internally as the “two-row” and “three-row”, the latter is expected to be derived from the Renault Boreal, itself a restyled version of the Dacia Bigster sold in Europe, while the recently spied former will be a Nissan-specific version of the Renault Duster.

Confirmed to arrive to next year, the former will be positioned above the Magnite as the replacement for the Qashqai, while the latter will take-up station below the X-Trail instead of replacing it as previously alleged.

As is equally well-known, the eagerly awaited Patrol will complete its SUV range when right-hand drive production kick-off next year.

More crucially, and in a confirmed of previous speculation, Klenkiewicz also confirmed that the Navara, known in its current form as the D23, will remain in production instead of being replaced by the completely generation heading to Australia before year-end.

Teased in a single image shortly after the launch of the RE:NISSAN restructuring strategy, the so-called “evolved D23” will first debut in Latin America where it is sold as the Frontier despite not being the same model marketed under the same name in North America.

While no details at the time were revealed, official Nissan wording only stated it will have “enhanced infotainment and an impressive suite of advanced driver assist technologies”.

By comparison, the “next generation” Navara heading Down Under will be move to the same platform as the Mitsubishi Triton, and adopt the same array choice of engines but with an obvious Mitsubishi.

At the same time, it will revert back to a leaf spring rear suspension setup rather than continuing with the D23’s coil springs.

“We are making sure that it’s very much a Nissan. So, we’ll be making a number of changes to make sure that that’s the case,” Nissan’s Managing Director for the Oceania region, Andrew Humberstone, told drive.com.au in February.

“We’re going to make a lot of changes to the product to make sure it’s in line with Nissan’s expectations. We have a relationship [with Mitsubishi], but that relationship could be effectively with any supplier.”

Addressing the reason for sticking with the D23, which debuted globally in 2014 and received its current appearance in 2020 as part of first mid-life update, Klenkiewicz said the project is the most obvious for Africa and South Africa as it has been optimised specifically for the market questions.

“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 [in terms of safety and emissions]. So, we are continuing with the current Navara”.

Produced as part of the mentioned update at the Rosslyn plant outside Pretoria since 2021, the Navara is likely to follow the example of the Frontier by receiving a welcome infotainment upgrade, as well as exterior overhaul teased in the mentioned image.

For the moment though, its local market arrival hasn’t yet been confirmed, though speculation points to a likely arrival sometime next year.

At the other end of the spectrum, Klenkiewicz also stated that products originating from China are set to enter the local market, though exact details of which and when are still under wraps for now.

“Globally, Nissan is working on enhancing its portfolio with products made in China. Our footprint there is very solid and we are preparing products made in China for exports to different parts of the world, including South Africa,” he said.

“Hopefully, [the Chinese product] along with those from India, will be competitively priced, allowing Nissan to have a solid range once again”.