Nissan readying four mid-size, Hilux-beating utes

Nissan has confirmed it will roll out four new utes from now until 2027, including an all-new Mitsubishi Triton-based one-tonne ute for Australia.

As well as the unnamed Navara replacement, the current Nissan ute will go under the knife and receive an extensive facelift for the Latin American market.

In China, the Japanese firm will also launch the Nissan-Dongfeng Z9 while, finally, there’s the updated Nissan Frontier that’s tailored for North America.

Despite sounding like an overly complex and expensive strategy, none of the mid-size utes will be all-new creations, with Nissan only spending a fraction of the R&D costs usually required for an individual model.

Teasing a picture of the facelifted Navara for Latin America, there’s been no glimpse of the Triton-based ute we’ll get in 2026.

To avoid confusion, Nissan might be tempted to drop the ‘Navara’ nameplate for Australia as the new ute was only referred to by Nissan execs as an “all-new one-tonne pick-up.”

It’s thought work is almost complete on the next-gen Nissan ute, with Nissan responsible for the design of the Toyota Hilux rival while Mitsubishi will be in charge of the engineering.

Built at the same plant in Thailand as the Mitsubishi Triton, it’s not known how radically different the Navara will be when it comes to styling and mechanicals.

Previewed a year ago with a blurry, shadowy image, the fourth-gen Nissan Navara could share Mitsubishi’s next-gen plug-in hybrid tech that will ensure it can compete on a level footing with the likes of the new Ford Ranger PHEV and BYD Shark 6.

Standard versions are set to share the same twin-turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder diesel that is expected to get electrification for lower emissions.

Early reports suggest the Aussie one-tonne ute might share styling with the Latin American Navara, sharing three horizontally stacked LED lamps and coming with pronounced, squared-off arches.

While the facelifted Latin American ute is based on the current D23 Nissan ute that first entered production back in 2014, the US-spec Frontier is much older and related to the D40 Navara that was first introduced in 2004, and was last facelifted back in 2022 when it received a fresh look and a more modern cabin.

Finally, the Chinese Dongfeng-Nissan joint venture is unrelated to any Nissan or Mitsubishi ute sold globally and, measuring in at 5520mm long, is far bigger than our Navara (being 260mm longer). It’s also available in petrol, turbo-diesel and plug-in hybrid formats.

It’s thought Nissan Australia will begin teasing the mystery one-tonne ute as soon as later this year, in the build up to its 2026 launch.