The second and more affordable member of Nissan’s Australian-engineered Navara Warrior line-up is almost here, the company says.
Nissan’s local division today issued a short statement saying: “The wait is almost over for the Nissan Navara SL Warrior by Premcar, with the full pricing and specification details of the most accessible Warrior to date to be revealed soon”.
The Nissan Navara SL Warrior, like its already on-sale Pro-4X Warrior sibling, has been modified and tested in Melbourne by Premcar, with full factory backing in terms of warranty.
The Nissan-dedicated Premcar team includes veterans from Holden and Ford. One, Mark Doody, has a near 40 year career working for Jaguar, Porsche and GM and was heavily involved with the VE Commodore.
Being based on the Navara SL workhorse rather than the Navara Pro-4X luxury model, the SL Warrior will be targeted at a different buyer – perhaps one with more utilitarian requirements who wants to bypass the aftermarket.
Details are scarce, but you can expect additions such as a hooped steel bullbar with integrated light bar; all-terrain tyres; new springs chosen after a bespoke development, tuning and validation program; and flared wheel arches – similar in scope to the Pro-4X Warrior.
While pricing is unknown, we can contextualise by saying the ($68,090 to $70,590) Pro-4X Warrior costs about $9500 more than the regular Pro-4X. Using this as a starting point, we’d speculate on a Navara SL Warrior price just under $60,000 RRP.
The Warrior program extension was confirmed at a Nissan dealer event on May 9, where the company also said the Patrol Warrior is still under study – but held back by supply constraints.
Premcar has now produced more than 1000 of the gen-two Navara Pro-4X Warrior, and has a current run rate of around 40 per week. This figure will of course jump with the introduction of the SL base grade.
Pro-4X Warrior
“We know how popular the Warrior program has been in Australia,” says Nissan Australia managing director Adam Paterson.
“With a comprehensive list of equipment as well as its tough, aggressive look, the Navara SL Warrior will not only expand the program’s appeal, but also its accessibility. We can’t wait to show you what Premcar has been working on.”
The Nissan and Premcar project isn’t the only ute development and re-engineering hub situated in Victoria.
Premcar
Ford’s global Ranger development program is based here, as is Walkinshaw’s Clayton hub that re-engineers the Ram 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado trucks to right-hand drive, and hots-up the Volkswagen Amarok V6.
Moreover, Toyota Australia’s ‘T-Con’ site at its old Altona plant churns out thousands of HiLux Rogue and Rugged X editions – at a run rate of 500 per month at present – and has a new ‘Apex’ derivative in the works.
