- Nissan NZ's first electrified ute and first PHEV of any kind.
- Based on Dongfeng platform, Australasia first for RHD.
- Prototypes testing in Australia since 2025.
Nissan New Zealand will launch a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Navara ute next year: its first-ever electrified one-tonner. But it's not a Navara as we know it (neither is the current diesel one really, as it's a version of the Mitsubishi Triton).
The Navara Pro is a development of the Frontier Pro, from Nissan's Chinese-market partner Dongfeng. Yes, that's the same Dongfeng already in the NZ market with passenger cars, but under a different distributor and unconnected to the Nissan Australasia deal.
Nissan assures the new ute is not just a rebadged Frontier Pro. NZ and Australia will be the first markets to have the right-hand drive version, and the company claims extensive development work was carried out Down Under for our version.
We're getting an Oceania-specific powertrain with a 2.0-litre engine, unlike the core Chinese-market 1.5-litre. The company says the larger engine was chosen to cope with local demands around performance, particularly towing and payload.
"Nissan Oceania has played a central role in the development of the all-new Navara Pro PHEV for both Australia and New Zealand," says the company.
"This has been considerably more than a validation exercise. Australian and NZ customer needs have directly influenced the evaluation and specification of the vehicle, drawing on Nissan Oceania’s experience across five generations of Navara and its deep understanding of local customer expectations, vehicle dynamics and commercial vehicle tuning for local conditions."
Five Navara Pro PHEV prototype vehicles arrived in Australia in 2025. Teams from Nissan Australia, Nissan Motor Limited (NML Japan) and Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile (ZNA) have all worked on the vehicle. Nissan says they have collectively travelled more than 20,000 kilometres in Australian conditions, with more testing to come.
The system delivers a "preliminary" 300kW/800Nm, with an 8-speed transmission. The Navara Pro PHEV will offer four selectable drive modes (Eco, Standard, Sport and Slippery) and seven terrain modes (Standard, Deep Snow, Mud, Sand, Rock, Wading and Expert).
Available vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability will provide access to electrical power on the go.
Nissan says Navara Pro is intended to be a proper 4x4 and will offer "approximately" 1-tonne payload and 3.5-tonne towing ability.
Details on battery size and EV-only range are yet to be shared.
The Navara Pro PHEV pays homage to a specific design element from Nissan’s ute heritage, chiefly, the three-slot hood opening of the 1980s D21 Hardbody pickup. It reinterprets the feature through a trio of horizontal LED elements positioned above the grille.
