Nissan won’t be pushing back on its launch date for Navara, confirming the all-new pickup trick’s debut for October 26, while noting it is sticking with diesel for the highly-anticipated rival to Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.
The announcement comes amid rumors Nissan was planning to reschedule Navara launch date, and that it had been wanting to go away with diesel for its new pickup truck.
Confirming the date for the big launch, Nissan's Chairperson of the AMEIO Region, Guillaume Cartier, said Navara was the result of a fledgling partnership between his company and the new Mitsubishi Triton in an attempt to scale back on development costs and production timings.
The top executive maintained the new Nissan Navara would retain its diesel powertrain – at least for now – suggesting Australia's unique market usage of pickup trucks as lifestyle vehicles that tow and travel big distances make the use of diesel a prerequisite.
But Nissan’s reliance on diesel will eventually come to an end, according to Cartier, who confirmed the company’s ambitious plan to convert to a petrol plug-in hybrid before going full battery electric.
"We are dealing with the regulatory aspect, to understand whether it will be passenger vehicle or SUV and how pickup will qualify within that. Which is in discussion," Cartier said.
“We need to answer the regulation, but we also need to answer the customer. The way the pickup is used in Australia is totally different than elsewhere. Because some are using it for work and some for leisure.
"So we need to make sure that if we electrify, how we electrify. I think it will be a two-step approach, first with a PHEV solution, then later on with EV. That will be the two-step approach.
"That's what we're looking at, but first it will be with a diesel approach.
"On the first one we are with Mitsubishi, but the next one we are looking at. Because there is also technology we have in-house, which is solid-state battery, but that will take time. We are piloting at the end of 2024, but that is really the game-changer. If this technology is as successful as we believe, we can electrify cars that are today unable to be electrified."
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