New Nissan Navara N-TREK heads upgraded ute range

Nissan Australia has released an upgraded Series 4 MY19 Nissan Navara ute range bringing a new infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity – and a new black-ops flagship special-edition dubbed N-TREK.

As we also forecast in May, the N-TREK special will be joined by a tough new Navara flagship later this year, featuring mechanical upgrades inspired by the hard-core Arctic Trucks Navara AT32 available in Europe.

For now, the Nissan Navara N-TREK special arrives with a host of black cosmetic extras for $56,450 plus on-road costs in manual form and $58,950 as an automatic – $3700 more than the range-topping Nissan Navara Dual Cab Pickup 4x4 ST-X (from $52,750) on which it’s based.

Nissan Australia’s newest limited-edition is based on the Navara Black Edition released in Thailand in April --pictured here in red with bold body-side decals, neither of which will be offered with the Australian version; stand by for local model images on Monday.

Available in three paint colours (Cosmic Black, Slate Grey and White Diamond), our N-TREK’s front-end wears black LED headlight bezels, a black grille, black front fog light surrounds, black wing mirror caps and a black lower front fascia with orange accent line.

There’s also an orange stripe on the black side steps and the N-TREK’s exterior is further distinguished by black 18-inch alloy wheels, black fender flares, a black rear bumper, black alloy rear sports bar and subtle black body-side decals for all four doors and the rear tub.

Inside, setting the Nissan Navara N-TREK apart from the ST-X is partial leather seat trim with orange fabric inserts and orange accent stitching for the seats, centre console, front door armrests and steering wheel.

Standard equipment includes a power-operated driver’s seat including lumbar adjustment and heated front seats, but the ST-X’s sunroof option is unavailable.

These features are in addition to the extra standard equipment for the MY19 Navara range, including black headlight bezels to replace the silver ones on SL, ST and ST-X models, and black side steps to replace the silver items on ST models.

But the key component of the latest Navara update is a new Alliance In-Vehicle Infotainment (AIVI) platform shared with sister brands Renault and Mitsubishi.

Bringing a redesigned user interface and multimedia menu, it’s presented by a bigger new 8.0-inch colour touch-screen, which replaces the 5.0-inch screen in MY18 SL variants and the 7.0-inch display in MY18 ST and ST-X variants.

Even better, the Navara will be the first Nissan model in Australia (excluding the new Nissan LEAF that arrived in showrooms this week) to come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

The device-mirroring technology (via USB cable, not wirelessly) is standard in all MY19 Navara King Cab and Dual Cab models, bringing Siri (Apple) and Google Assistant voice-recognition via Bluetooth.

However, the new infotainment system is unavailable in sing-cab models and does away with a CD player, and only ST and ST-X (not base SL) models continue to offer embedded satellite-navigation -- now via Tom Tom rather than HereMaps.

Apart from the addition of the new N-TREK flagship, there are no price changes for the MY19 Navara, which continues to be available in three equipment grades and three body styles (Single Cab, King Cab and the most popular Dual Cab). There are a total of 27 Pick-Up and eight Cab Chassis options, plus 10 4x2 and 25 4x4 variants.

The MY19 Nissan Navara is the fourth update to the current generation model since it was launched in Australia with segment-first coil-spring five-link rear suspension for dual-cab versions in mid-2015.

The D23 Series 4 Navara goes on sale just over a year after the Series 3 dual-cab arrived with dual-rate rear springs in February 2018 and the Series 2 dual-cab was fitted with new rear dampers in 2016.

Those suspension upgrades have now been applied to an updated Navara range released this week in Europe, where the Spanish-built model – like Australia’s Thai-made model -- comes with a 140kW/450Nm 2.3-litre twin-turbo diesel engine matched with six-speed manual and seven-speed automatic transmissions.

However, all of the European Navara’s engines – including an upgraded 120kW/425Nm base version that now also scores twin turbos – now meet stricter new Euro 6d-TEMP standards and combined WLPT fuel consumption is now rated at 6.9-7.0L/100km for the low-output version and 7.0-7.4L/100km for the high-output engine.

Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester told carsales at this week’s Nissan LEAF MkII launch that he expects a sales kick from the MY19 Navara.

“When we look at it we look at what it includes in terms of N-TREK and how we address the market,” said Lester.

“So when you look at the pick-up segment and where it’s growing ... at the very, very top-end that is growing and at the very, very bottom-end that is growing too.

“What we need to do is be stronger across all the variants that we sell and that of course makes sense to everybody, but the reality is there are some specific areas of lesser performance that we could do a better job of, whether it be fleet in 4x2 segment versus 4x4 segment.

“And then we need to address the market where it wants to grow up toward the top-end, so we need to find a way to grow up in that area.

“Our special-editions in the past year have been helpful in that area, but the appetite of Australian consumers is even greater and that’s what we have to bring to market.”

In the first half of this year, the Nissan Navara 4x4 is languishing in sixth place on the 4x4 ute sales chart with 5655 sales -- down 16 per cent in a segment that’s shrunk by only 1.2 per cent year on year.

Meantime the Toyota HiLux heads the 4x4 pick-up pack with 19,516 sales, ahead of the Ford Ranger (19,258), Mitsubishi Triton (11,106), Holden Colorado (8672) and Isuzu D-MAX (5907).

In terms of 4x2 ute sales, which are down 9.4 per cent overall so far in 2019, the Navara 4x2 is 16 per cent less popular with 1496 registrations, also placing it sixth but this time behind the HiLux (6616), D-MAX (2593), Ranger (2238), Mazda BT-50 (2183) and Triton (1651).

MY19 Nissan Navara models with AIVI as standard:
King Cab ST 6MT (4x4) -- $44,650
King Cab ST 7AT (4x4) -- $47,150
King Cab ST-X 6MT (4x4) -- $50,750
King Cab ST-X 7AT (4x4) -- $53,250
Dual Cab SL 6MT (4x4) -- $44,600
Dual Cab SL 7AT (4x4) -- $47,100
Dual Cab ST 6MT (4x2) -- $40,800
Dual Cab ST 7AT (4x2) -- $43,300
Dual Cab ST 6MT (4x4) -- $47,450
Dual Cab ST 7AT (4x4) -- $49,950
Dual Cab ST-X 6MT (4x2) -- $45,650
Dual Cab ST-X 7AT (4x2) -- $48,150
Dual Cab ST-X 6MT (4x4) -- $52,750
Dual Cab ST-X 7AT (4x4) -- $55,250
Dual Cab N-TREK 6MT (4x4) – $56,450
Dual Cab N-TREK 7AT (4x4) – $58,950
Metallic paint -- $595
* Prices exclude on-road costs