Premcar produces 5000th Nissan Navara Warrior

The Nissan Navara Warrior has logged a major production milestone, with the 5000th example recently rolling off the line at Premcar – the Melbourne-based engineering company that developed the hard-core dual-cab 4x4 ute.

Some of Australia’s smartest performance car minds at Premcar – many of them former staff at now-defunct Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) – were responsible for the Warrior program, which takes the regular Thai-built Nissan Navara (in PRO-4X and SL trim) and then adds a 100kg GVM upgrade, off-road wheels and tyres, beefed-up suspension with a higher ride height, a bull bar with integrated light bar, flared guards and obligatory decals.

And while sales of the Navara 4x4 have tumbled by more than 50 per cent so far this year (and are now eclipsed by not only the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-MAX, Mazda BT-50 and Mitsubishi Triton in that order, but also the GWM Ute, Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series and LDV T60), the Premcar-fettled versions are in hot demand.

The Epping-based assembly line for the Ford Ranger Raptor-baiting ute first went live in October 2019, when the original Series 4 Navara N-TREK Warrior entered production, and the 5000th Navara Warrior was completed on April 6.

That’s the same milestone GMSV celebrated for its locally converted Chevrolet Silverado in November, after ‘remanufacture’ of the full-size pickup began in 2018.

A second, more affordable Navara SL Warrior variant supplemented the PRO-4X Warrior from 2022 and, despite producing up to 70 utes a week, Premcar continues to be overwhelmed by demand.

This month’s milestone comes as Premcar tools up for the forthcoming Nissan Patrol Warrior, which is set for release in late 2023.

“Car number 5000 means a lot,” said Premcar boss Bernie Quinn of the Navara Warrior program.

“In very short time, the Warrior program has grown from the original Navara N-TREK Warrior to the current PRO-4X Warrior and SL Warrior model variants.

“And with the Nissan Patrol Warrior’s development program in full swing, we can’t wait to add it to our local new-vehicle assembly lines and seeing it in Nissan showrooms across the country.”

Just like the Navara program, the Y62 Patrol’s gutsy 5.6-litre petrol V8 and seven-speed automatic transmission will be left untouched by Premcar, meaning all of the Warrior upgrades will focus almost exclusively on chassis and cosmetic enhancements.

Production of the Navara Warrior will continue alongside the Patrol Warrior – at least until a new-generation Navara arrives in a couple of years – and the 5000th example will be sold to a customer to help reduce the waiting list, rather than being retained by Premcar or Nissan for commemorative purposes.

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