Nissan will sell its new Chinese-built plug-in hybrid ute in Australia and New Zealand under the Navara name, badging it Navara Pro PHEV despite it sharing almost nothing with the existing diesel-powered Navara. The decision was confirmed by Nissan Oceania managing director Steve Milette, who said brand equity in the Navara name outweighed the logic of importing the ute under its Chinese-market title, Frontier Pro PHEV.
The electrified dual-cab is the first right-hand drive version of the ute Nissan launched in China late last year, and it will reach local showrooms in 2027 as a direct rival to the BYD Shark 6 and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV.
The new ute is a product of Nissan's joint venture with Dongfeng and rides on the same platform as the Dongfeng Z9. It pairs a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor for combined outputs of 300kW and 800Nm, figures that put it firmly in the performance territory now occupied by Chinese plug-in hybrid utes rather than the conventional diesel segment the HiLux dominates.
Why not just call it the Frontier?
Nissan sells the same ute as the Frontier Pro PHEV in China, and the nameplate is already established in other export markets. Milette said markets with Frontier heritage will keep that name, while Navara markets get Navara Pro. "There was consideration given to Frontier, but in our market, there's equity in the Navara brand name," he told CarExpert. "Markets that had Frontier continue with Frontier, while markets that had Navara continue with Navara Pro".
The Navara name arrived in Australia in 1986 with the D21-series model, replacing the Datsun 720, and Nissan has since sold more than 425,000 examples locally.
One name, two very different utes
The overlap could confuse buyers. The D27-series Navara already on sale here shares its underpinnings and 2.4-litre twin-turbo diesel four with the Mitsubishi Triton, and there is also a diesel Navara Pro-4X variant whose name closely mirrors the new plug-in's.
From 2027, a dealership floor could therefore hold a Navara Pro-4X diesel and a Navara Pro PHEV that are mechanically unrelated, built in different countries on different platforms. Nissan is betting the shared badge matters more to shoppers than the mechanical story behind it, and the Pro suffix at least signals a distinct sub-range rather than a replacement for the diesel.
