Navara Pro PHEV is “a Nissan first and foremost”, says Milette

Nissan says its China-built Navara Pro PHEV has been held to the same standards as any other Nissan, and hopes the ute will be the first of several new models from its Chinese joint venture.

Nissan Oceania managing director Steve Milette spoke to us after the plug-in hybrid ute was confirmed for New Zealand last week.

The Navara Pro is built by Zhengzhou Nissan, Nissan’s joint venture with Dongfeng, and was developed by engineers in China, Japan and Australia working together.

“It is a Nissan first and foremost, and it does meet the elevated standards of a Japanese company like Nissan,” Milette said. “It is a China, Japan, Australia three-way development, with engineers and specialists of the three markets working together. But regardless of where a product is built in our family, whether it’s Thailand or Japan or US or UK or China, it has to meet the very strict requirements of Nissan Global.”

Asked about the quality of vehicles coming out of China, he said: “We’re not going to release anything to our customers that doesn’t meet the strict requirements of Nissan, whether it comes from Thailand or China or Japan or anywhere.”

Nissan Oceania head of communications Steve Coughlan pointed out that Nissan already sources the Qashqai from the UK and the diesel Navara from Thailand.

“We source products from all over the world, but the important part is that they meet the Nissan standard and are engineered to meet the requirements of the customers, particularly here in Oceania,” he said.

We asked Milette whether the vehicle’s Japanese engineering input matters to ute buyers. He said it is essential to the brand, but buyers have a more practical focus.

“To the brand, it’s very important. For us, that’s non-negotiable. It’s who we are,” he said. “Now, I think customers, what they’re looking for is value, and can we offer value and high feature content at a price that meets the market.”

Earlier this month Milette told us Nissan Oceania had asked for nearly every model in its Dongfeng pipeline. The Navara Pro PHEV is the first to be confirmed, and Milette said he hopes more follow soon.

“We’re hoping that this Navara Pro PHEV is the first of many to come in a decent short amount of time,” he said. “Hopefully there’s more news to come in the near future.”

He would not say which models are next. Asked whether the N7 electric sedan or an off-road SUV was top of his list, he said: “We like them all. I think for our market, we need diversity in powertrains.”

Pricing, final specifications and electric-only range for the Navara Pro PHEV will be announced closer to its arrival next year.