It’s more than just a fresh face, but the biggest single increase appears to be $1300.

ENHANCING the safety spec, improving refinement, delivering a restyling and introducing of a new flagship model have hardly impacted on Nissan Navara pricing.

In advance of delivering the facelifted model line, Nissan New Zealand has sent out RRPs to its dealers and it appears to be a good news story.

The biggest increase seems to be a $1300 hit, for the ST doublecab automatic four-wheel-drive.

Many other derivatives go up by much less – in one case by a mere $300 – and in two instances, the stickers have reduced.

The ST four-wheel-drive auto doublecab is down $1100 and the range’s new flagship, the Pro-4X (pictured), at $70,400 in automatic form is $6200 cheaper than the top dog of the outgoing range, the N-Trek.

Whether the Pro-4X replaces the latter is still a matter for conjecture; it’s a factory flagship that might yet become a base for a new N-Trek (a package created in Australia for Nissan by a third party developer).

The updated line comprises five rear-drive models and 11 editions with on-demand four-wheel-drive, all with a 2.3-litre four-cylinder twin turbo diesel engine.

The 2021 lineup presents the first big facelift for the ute and introduces five years into its life cycle.

Not everything changes. The engine continues to make 140kW and 450Nm and remains wed to the existing seven-speed auto. Suspension tune is not touched. Towing capacity remains capped at 3500kg but Nissan has indicated improved payload, with up to 1.1-tonnes of carrying capacity in the Pro-4X and up to 1.2 tonnes on workhorse models.

However, it’s not challenging to pick the new from the old.

The biggest obvious visual revision is to the front. The fresh face is a shared identity – the next-size-up Nissan Titan in North America has much the same look. Aside from the XL-sized grille, Navara takes bi-LED headlights with C-shaped daylight running lights.

All this means it adopts new sheetmetal forward of the windscreen, bonnet included. The rear outer skins, tailgate, wheel arch flares and tail-lights are come in for re-sculpting.

The sides of the ute tub are 20mm higher, though this is more for styling than to create extra usable space and the tailgate hinge is spring-loaded.

The interior gets a minor makeover and a more compact steering wheel, with extra buttons which work in conjunction with a larger digital display between analogue dials in the instrument cluster. The steering wheel still only has tilt adjustment rather than height and reach adjustment. A new laminated windscreen, thicker side glass, and extra sound-deadening behind the dash promise a quieter driving experience.

The Navara moves to autonomous emergency braking, forward crash alert, lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, and blind zone warning for the first time. So, a step up … but still a step behind the likes of the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50.

Nissan is yet to outline if this advanced safety tech will be on all variants.

As before, top-end Navara models come with push button start, dual zone air-conditioning, rear air vents, heated front seats, power folding sides mirrors, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and embedded navigation. The infotainment is the same system that came with an update 18 months ago.