11Nissan is set to motor back into pick-ups with the Frontier Pro, running plug-in hybrid power. It’s a European market Nissan abandoned in 2022, when it axed the one-tonne-capacity Navara, having closed the Spanish production line. The hi-tech Frontier Pro, developed and assembled in Nissan’s joint-venture with Dongfeng, is one of several Chinese models planned for global exports. Sold in China as a diesel or plug-in hybrid pick-up, the utility vehicle could hit Europe – if the business case adds up. “The Frontier Pro PHEV is a pick-up which is under study,” Nissan divisional VP Jordi Vila told Auto Express during an exclusive chat in Japan. “It’s a vehicle which we believe has potential for Europe.” The Chinese model combines a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine and electric motor in the transmission for more than 400bhp and 800Nm of torque. That’s a lot of power for hauling loads and towing, underwritten by a battery yielding a 135km (84-mile) range on the generous Chinese test cycle. The Frontier Pro is an ultra-modern-looking truck, although its three central LED lamps are inspired by the nose of the D21 hardbody pick-up from the eighties. The Pro has 18-inch alloy wheels with chunky rubber. Will it make it to Europe? The numbers need to add up to justify homologation work, to be undertaken by Nissan’s engineering centre in Cranfield, Bedfordshire. The powertrain will need ratifying for European standards, and it will need to meet European safety regs. Crash testing a car and funding revisions can cost well in excess of €10million. If the Nissan makes the grade, it will double the number of plug-in hybrid pick-ups in Europe, rivalling Ford’s £40,830 Ranger PHEV. 11The Frontier Pro isn’t the only Dongfeng-Nissan under consideration. Product planners are also doing the sums on the NX8 electric car, a big SUV which would be longer than the Nissan Ariya. The Japanese brand has suffered a product famine in Europe, with three fallow years following the Qashqai Mk3, X-Trail and Ariya’s launch in 2021-22. But a new-car fightback began with last year’s new Leaf and Micra electric cars, to be intensified with the freshly-unveiled Juke EV and imports from China. Along with a previously announced electric city car, green-lighting the two imports would take the Nissan UK line-up from today’s six vehicles to nine by 2028 – with more to come. The goal is to rebuild European sales to 500,000 units a year by 2030, as Nissan seeks to cement its position on the continent despite the influx of new Chinese entrants.
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