Homegrown Nissan Navara Warrior firms for South Africa

The Nissan Warrior off-road vehicle concept developed in Australia could soon be headed to South Africa and the Middle East.

Discussions are advanced for a version of the Nissan Navara Warrior ute to be assembled in South Africa, while in the Middle East there is emerging interest in the brand-new Nissan Patrol Warrior.

The Warrior off-road brand is a co-development between Nissan Australia and Melbourne automotive engineering and design consultant Premcar and has been around since 2019, when the first Navara N-TREK Warrior was developed and introduced.

The Navara Warrior is now available in Australia in both flagship PRO-4X and entry-level SL guise, priced from $58,750.

The concept has proven a success in Australia, with more than 6000 Warriors built so far. Models like the Ford Ranger Wildtrak X and Toyota HiLux GR Sport have since arrived to fight the Warrior for buyers in the offroad-focussed tough-truck space.

Premcar boss Bernie Quinn has visited South Africa several times to talk with the local Nissan division and toured the factory in Rosslyn near Johannesburg, where the D23 Navara is assembled.

Nissan Australia has also had conversations with colleagues in the South African and Middle East markets about the Warrior concept.

This is a further extension of the early interest in the Navara Warrior in ‘bakkie’-loving South Africa, as first reported by carsales in 2021.

“The opportunity in South Africa is well down the track,” confirmed Quinn.

“From my personal point of view it’s going to happen. But are we signed off, contract done and everything? No.

“I can’t tell you when [production might start] until all that is sorted out.”

The plan is to build the Navara Warrior in South Africa in the same way as the Australian model, with a Premcar facility receiving standard Navaras from the Rosslyn plant and then deleting/adding the chassis and cosmetic parts required to complete the upgrade.

Quinn admitted there were still complexities to be sorted out, such as the design differences between the 2.3-litre twin-turbo Navara sourced from Thailand for Australia and the South African model.

“It won’t be exactly the same car as sold in Australia, it can’t be,” explained Quinn. “It looks exactly the same but it’s got a different 2.5-litre engine and it’s got a slightly different chassis.”

The South African Navara Warrior is also unlikely to be fitted with a bulbar, as the Australian version is.

All that means the South African Navara Warrior would require in-country tuning and development, as well as localised production.

Quinn said the chances of the Patrol Warrior heading to the Middle East were at “initial discussion” stage only.

“It’s an idea more than anything,” he conceded.

A NISMO version of the Y62 Patrol is already offered in the Middle East, but that’s more a road-going sports model than an off-roader with higher capabilities like the Warrior.

“My understanding of the Middle Eastern market is they are still selling [the previous generation] Y61 Patrol and that was the off-road desert car, while the Y62 is more like the Cadillac Escalade kind of car.

“But Y61 is now getting to the end of its life and maybe there is an opportunity to make an off-roader out of the Y62 for them.”

The replacement for the Y62 – which is being dubbed the Y63 – is now being tested in the Middle East in disguise ahead of its expected release around mid-2025.

If supply of the donor vehicle can be secured, Quinn conceded there might be a prospect for the Y62 Patrol Warrior to fulfill the role currently occupied by Y61 in the Middle East after the Y63 launches.

“I really don’t know the lifespan of Y62 and I haven’t seen a Y63 yet,” he said.

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