Resident artist Josh Byrnes imagines Nissan’s next one-tonner as a hybridised Ranger Raptor rival … would the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance allow it to happen?

EXTRAORDINARY times require unprecedented measures.

Covid-19 has thrown the world into economic turmoil affecting just about every sector you could think of - the automotive industry included.

The downturn in new vehicle sales here and abroad has seen a tightening of the purse strings disrupting many new vehicle programmes, from delays to the complete axing of planned vehicle redesigns.

In Nissan’s case, the Corona curse appears to have poured more salt onto a pre-existing wound. The Japanese carmaker was struggling before the pandemic, and further rationing of their product portfolio was announced on May 4.

The Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi ambition now is to leverage each member's strength (for instance, Nissan will take the lead in autonomous driving, while Renault will do so for connected-car technologies).

Also, each alliance member will be the reference for particular regions where it has particular status. So, Nissan will lead the China, North America and Japan regions. Renault will be the reference for Europe, Russia, South America and North Africa. Mitsubishi, meantime, will be the reference for the Asean and Oceania regions.

So, there’s that. Then there’s the bit that we’re a little nervous about. Cost-cutting is coming. Big cost-cutting. To achieve new targets, the companies say close to 50 percent of their models will be developed and produced under a so-called leader-follower arrangement by 2025.

The implication for the one-tonne ute sector could be massive. It seems to means the upcoming Navara replacement could well be based off Mitsubishi’s next Triton, to the point of becoming an exercise in badge-engineering.

That is, a common vehicle with lightly-altered front and rear ends. Everything else will mostly be the same as its Mitsubishi donor vehicle …even the often criticised Nissan-based Mercedes-Benz X-Class programme had more creative freedom.

However, what if Nissan had the complete free rein over the design and development - what could the Navara look like, and what else could we expect?

Our in-house illustrated study envisions the next Navara in Ranger Raptor-fighting ‘Nismo’ specification. So, cue all the necessary off-road bits; raised ground clearance? Check. Pumped wheel arch flares? That too. Giant wheels, likewise. And to top it all off …an in-your-face front-end that wouldn’t look out of place amongst a fleet of military vehicles.

Unlike Nissan’s recently-added Navara N-Trek Warrior variant, upgrades would go beyond just simple suspension tuning and visual add-ons. Here the frame would be strengthened, aided by off-road shock absorbers helping it to endure any punishment thrown its way.

While its Ranger Raptor rival is a tad underdone in the engine compartment; this study ditches diesel and puts aside any powertrain mediocrity by utilising a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) shared with Mitsubishi’s next-generation Outlander SUV.

This setup employs a new 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine with 94 kW coupled to dual electric motors (one on each axle) producing 69 kW. In this application, the improved range comes from a larger 13.8-kilowatt-hour battery pack. In the Navara, this would be ideal for low-speed off-roading with prodigious amounts of low-down torque.

Diesel power will still feature for core volume-selling models and a myriad of variants in single, king and dual cab configurations will be available in both rear-drive and four-wheel-drive formats.

A full redesign of Nissan New Zealand’s most popular model is tipped to land sometime within the next 24 months as an MY2022 model.

Will it look anything like this rendering?