Nissan Navara Warrior power boost possible

Further development including accessories and a possible power boost are under study for the locally-engineered Nissan Navara Warrior ute as plans for a second Warrior model based on the Patrol grind on slowly.

The limited-edition Nissan Navara N-Trek Warrior dual-cab 4x4 ute launched in 2019 has now been replaced by the upgraded 2021 Navara PRO-4X Warrior as a permanent member of the range.

Pricing was announced in July ahead of first deliveries in September. Since then Nissan has delivered more than 200 examples and the order bank now stretches out up to three months. You can read our first review on December 8 following several delays with the national press launch.

Separately, development partners Nissan Oceania and Premcar continue to investigate the same fundamental concept for the Patrol Warrior, which would also offer increased off-road capability, bring unique cosmetic touches and be assembled alongside the Navara Warrior at Premcar’s facility in Melbourne.

But a lack of global sign-off for the first Nissan Patrol Warrior has pushed its potential launch timing into 2023 after it was unofficially touted for 2021 and then pushed back to 2022 as COVID-triggered delays stuck a stick in the spokes.

“It [Patrol Warrior] is still alive,” said new Nissan Oceania managing director Adam Paterson. “But is it a globally approved project at this point? No.”

Paterson declined to put launch timing on the Patrol Warrior.

Depictions of a Patrol Warrior have been seen by Nissan dealers and there has been some development work undertaken by Premcar and Nissan. But in-depth development was only due to start after the completion of the PRO-4X Warrior program.

“The team has done work on it [Patrol Warrior] and sees a market for it. The next step is determining what that project would look like and consist of and then from there it’s the business case build and taking it overseas to gain approvals for whatever it is we end up deciding that the market might want from that product,” said Paterson.

Nissan currently holds more than 1000 orders for the petrol V8-powered Y62 Patrol, whose only direct rival is Toyota’s new LandCruiser 300 Series, which now also commands a record waiting list.

But Paterson played down the multi-month waiting list for the Patrol, which is currently experiencing record sales and limited supply, as a challenge for the Warrior model. Essentially, he argues, that’s because the Patrol Warrior is still so far from potential production.

“Supply is separate,” insisted Paterson. “We are still trying to sort supply to meet the demand of the four-digit order bank we have right now. It’s not like we are slowing down on development of this program at all because of the order bank.”

Paterson told carsales that Patrol orders placed before late November would be delivered by the end of March following a boost in supplies.

While the Patrol Warrior remains a distant prospect, Paterson confirmed studies were underway to expand the equipment levels offered with the Navara Warrior. Snorkels, tray covers and storage boxes were all cited as potential items.

“Yes, there’s not a snorkel on it or tonneau cover, but we are trying to hit that $70,000 price point. There’s not a winch on it as well and that’s another possibility we are looking at,” he said.

If demand is strong, these sorts of items would be incorporated into the standard equipment list of future PRO-4X Warrior iterations.

In a separate interview, Premcar engineering director Bernie Quinn expanded further on potential boosts to the PRO-4X Warrior, which currently leaves its 2.3-litre biturbo diesel engine and related drivetrain unchanged.

“If we look at what accessories that are being fitted to the car beyond what are already being fitted that would be a smart thing for us to focus on,” he said.

“If that happened to be something under the hood then we’d look at it, accepting it is a real difficult job… Nothing is impossible, it’s just whether you can do it a price the customer is willing to pay.”

“We need to stay focussed on things the customer wants.”

Paterson affirmed his support for the Warrior concept, which was originally championed by his predecessor Stephen Lester, confirming it could expand further in the Nissan line-up beyond Navara and Patrol.

Apart from the new Z sports coupe, Nissan will launch three all-new SUVs in Australia next year: the next-gen QASHQAI, Pathfinder and X-TRAIL, which has already been mooted for the Warrior treatment at some stage.

“There is absolutely an opportunity to look at expanding the Warrior brand on the new products that are arriving in the market based on customer demand,” he said.

“The Warrior brand positioning is about increasing the capability of our products and not just a badge for a visual type of program. As we look at the future possible products it’s about which ones there’s a market for increased capability and therefore what can we do to the product to deliver that if the market demands it.

“Is there really a market for an X-TRAIL Warrior? That’s something we would have to look at, but it’s probably not number one priority.”

“Right now the priority is we have four cars to launch and the primary focus is launching them flawlessly.”