Nissan Navara Warrior export chance

The second generation of the Aussie-developed Nissan Navara Warrior could be on its way to Africa.

To be based on the 2021 Nissan Navara Pro-4X – the upcoming new flagship for the facelifted D23 model released earlier this month – the new Navara Warrior should be with us within months.

It is expected to continue the philosophy of the previous Nissan Navara N-Trek Warrior, which upped the ute’s suspension capability and added some practical and cosmetic features.

Developed and assembled by Melbourne engineering contractor Premcar in co-operation with Nissan, the N-Trek Warrior was a sell-out success, with 1400 built.

Right now, Nissan Australia and Premcar are working through the final stages of the second-generation Warrior, including sign-offs at the global level.

African interest has emerged in the wake of a reshuffle of Nissan’s global reporting structures, which has resulted in Australia being placed in a division dubbed AMIEO, which includes Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania.

Of course, if there is one place in the world that loves their mid-size utes like the Navara as much as Australia, it is South Africa, where they are known as bakkies.

That interest is being explored by Nissan Australia boss Stephen Lester, who has backed the Warrior from concept to creation and is now looking for export opportunities.

“We now have South Africa and even the African continent where there is a more robust feel that the Warrior concept or idea fits into what consumers would be wanting or expecting,” Lester told carsales.

“We are at a fairly infantile stages right now in terms of that discussion and what could work or how it could work, but any time you can have those discussions and expressions of interest around what can be possible they are encouraging signs for us.” 

This isn’t the first time Lester has sought international interest for the Warrior. There had previously been an effort to develop a Warrior body kit for Thailand, another strong ute market, but that did not proceed.

“From a spec standpoint or a usability standpoint, South Africa is a dual-cab market, whereas when you look at the set-up previously with Thailand, it wasn’t so much around the off-road ability,” Lester said.

“That is also a single-cab or king-cab market, rather than a dual-cab market. So we were starting to wash away some of the essence of it.”

It would seem likely if an African deal did pull together the Warrior would be assembled locally under licence, as the new Navara is being built in South Africa.

“I think is a great opportunity for it [Warrior] and even if it is just some of the work we do with Premcar that we can export for them and either send over – even if it is just the IP – I think it would be a great example for our team here,” Lester said.

“There are not a lot of markets around the world, within Nissan anyway, that are building projects quite as detailed as this and then rolling it out and being successful at it.

“I can’t go into the detailed numbers, but Warrior was a really big success for us.”

Priced from $59,790 drive-away and available from next month, the 2021 Nissan Navara Pro-4X (pictured here) adds a host of extras over the ST-X dual-cab 4x4 pick-up, including black fender flares, roof rails, mirrors, sports bar, side steps, grille, door-handles and wheels (with all-terrain tyres), plus leather-accented seats.

Replacing a model previously priced from $65,990, the new Navara Warrior is again expected to up the ante with off-road kit like lifted suspension, big off-road tyres and a bulbar.