The critical acclaim and commercial success of the original Nissan Navara N-Trek Warrior has garnered international attention for its creators while opening doors to further similar projects that are likely to go global down the line.
The brainchild of Melbourne-based vehicle engineering firm Premcar, the modifications that underpin what has been called “the world’s toughest Navara” will likely be made available in time to South Africa and other overseas markets.
“As far as this specific car and getting it to some other market, I’d say the number one opportunity for us is New Zealand… and number two is South Africa,” according to Nissan Australia managing director Adam Paterson. “And so there’s been some questions about the program over there.
“The difference is that (Nissan in South Africa) locally build their Navara, so it’s not the exact same spec we have here. But Matt (Baily, Nissan Australia’s product development senior manager) has been involved in an introduction between Premcar and the South Africa team, and I think some discussions have gone down the road there.”
All 1500 examples of the N-Trek Warrior original launched in late 2019 sold out almost instantly, with Australian buyers snapping up 1400 of them and New Zealand the remaining 100 units.
Despite the specification differences between Australia’s Thai-built Navara and the South African-made version, it is understood that consumers are very similarly drawn to higher-end models in the medium-truck segment, with a skew towards what’s known as the “super high-premium” class, as demonstrated by the huge success of the Ford Ranger Wildtrak and Ranger Raptor grades.
As a result of this, South Africa is a logical next-choice port of call for the Navara Warrior.
Mr Paterson, who is only a few months into his tenure in Australia, has credited his predecessor, Stephen Lester, as well as the team at Nissan Australia and Premcar for successfully overcoming the many challenges such a project presents.
“Interestingly, I had kept track of the Warrior program even before I made it here, because – for one – the truck looks fantastic,” he said.
“Since we’ve been live with some of the content from this… there’s been tonnes of interest in how we got a locally converted product off the ground… so I can’t take the credit.”
For its part, Premcar has invested millions of dollars in preparing its Epping, Melbourne engineering facility to meet increasing demand for its services, while 35 staff have been directly involved in the Navara Warrior project.
“If we’re going to invest in a program like this, there needs to be volume to cover the investment,” Mr Paterson said.
“When we look at a program like this, it’s how we make sure it’s marketable… and that’s why the team went with the (Navara Warrior’s) modifications.”
Finally, the Warrior’s influence has also extended to the normal Navara grades in Australia, with consumers now gravitating to more expensive models like the ST-X and Pro-4X, instead of the fleet-focused SL and ST versions, meaning there’s been a substantial lift in the model mix to more profitable variants since 2019.
Keyword: Aussie Nissan Navara Warrior goes global: How Melbourne-based Premcar's improvements to the Ford Ranger Raptor rival have sparked international interest