Car buyers are increasingly sophisticated these days: they’re highly knowledgeable about the specific vehicle they want to buy, having done countless hours of research, online and in person, and having interrogated their family and friends, and even automotive journalists and car reviewers for their opinions.
And car buyers in today’s world are not easily fooled.
When it comes to an AWD or a 4WD touted as a “purpose-built” off-roader, or even an adventure-travel vehicle promoted as a limited edition/special edition, sticker packs and the like no longer cut it.
Car buyers demand more – much more – than superficial add-ons.
And so it is that carmakers are increasingly entering into collaborations with companies in order to develop vehicles that greatly benefit from substantial engineering away from the OEM.
These kinds of arrangements have in recent years produced very successful outcomes. Case in point: the collaboration between Nissan Australia and Melbourne-based vehicle engineering company, Premcar.
Premcar’s work on the Navara Warrior has proven that it can be entrusted with crucial conversion work, engineering upgrades and the fitment of adventure-ready accessories in order to add real value to a vehicle. And Premcar’s work on the upcoming Patrol Warrior will soon be on display on our streets and in the bush.
In this yarn, I’ll explain to you why the work of Premcar – and companies like it – is so important and why these kinds of companies are the future of factory-backed automotive mods in Australia and the global market.
Convenience
Australia’s 4WD aftermarket sector is one of the most respected in the world. It’s so well regarded in fact that the global market – including massively competitive 4WD markets such as the USA, China and South Africa – looks to Australia for guidance and inspiration in terms of principles, philosophy and products.
Nothing will change how deeply entrenched and successful our aftermarket sector is and will continue to be. Nothing.
But there are plenty of car buyers in Australia who prefer convenience over the joy the rest of us experience at looking for, sourcing, buying and perhaps even fitting our own aftermarket gear to our own vehicle.
Convenience, in this instance, means being able to buy an adventure-ready vehicle straight out of the showroom; a vehicle that’s equipped with a stack of re-engineering work and aftermarket-style accessories and all of it covered by a full factory-backed warranty – more about the ‘warranty’ bit later.
The appeal of something like Nissan’s Warrior program is the fact that buyers can drive their ute or wagon right out of the car yard and tackle their very own adventure in a hardcore 4WD that’s been built for purpose and they can trust in the top-quality behind-the-scenes work that’s been engineered into that vehicle.
Designed, developed and tested in Australia
Australia has some of the harshest driving conditions and road/track surfaces in the world. Think chopped-up bitumen back roads, soft spirit-sapping beach or desert sand, through to spine-rattling corrugations.
We have pretty much any road or track surface you can imagine here. And those surfaces and conditions put an immense amount of stress and strain on vehicles, drivetrains and components. In fact, they punish all of those elements and more onboard a vehicle.
So, 4WDs have to be built to withstand that sort of extreme torture and the only way car manufacturers can be absolutely sure that’s the case is if the vehicles undergo prolonged testing (nay, thrashing) in Australia.
Boiling-hot days, thousands of kilometres, jarring road/track surfaces …
Mobs like Premcar design, manufacture and validate their vehicle work here in Australia in the harshest of conditions those 4WDs may face day in, day out for the term of their vehicular ‘life’.
That’s thorough testing.
And Premcar and companies of its ilk are bringing manufacturing back to Australia and generating more jobs while they’re at it. In June this year, Premcar announced the establishment of its newest vehicle assembly plant, which will operate alongside its Engineering and Production Centre in Epping, Melbourne.
Warranty
As I mentioned earlier, Australia’s aftermarket sector is great – thriving, lively and always innovating – but unfortunately, as in any industry, there are ‘cowboys’ out there and some of the modifications done to vehicles may be, shall we say, less than ideal and even illegal or non-compliant in terms of engineering approval. The work done to your 4WD may even void your vehicle’s warranty. Buyer beware.
But, with Premcar’s Nissan collab, as an example, any engineering work on the Pro-4X Warrior – including the ute’s 100kg GVM upgrade (over standard), 260mm ground clearance (up 40mm, with springs and tyres making up 15mm and 25mm respectively), 30mm-wider tracks (to 1600mm), and revised suspension with new spring rates and dampers – and the fitment of accessories – including a winch-compatible bull bar with integrated light bar, a Warrior-specific tow bar, a larger 3mm steel bash-plate, and Cooper Discoverer All Terrain AT3 275/70R17 tyres – is all covered because Premcar has opted to match Nissan’s five-year/unlimited km warranty for all of its Warrior enhancements.
And the same will apply to Nissan’s upcoming Patrol Warrior with its re-engineered Hydraulic Body Motion Control, a 50mm total suspension lift with new springs front and rear, and increased ground clearance and wheel track.
The future
Even though there will always be the 4WD enthusiasts who prefer to cherry-pick their own aftermarket accessories and custom-design their own off-roader, there will also be just-as-strong demand for the convenience of ready-made, re-engineered adventure-travel machines that may be driven straight out of the showroom and into the Simpson Desert.
A 4WD brand’s reputation lives or dies on the capability and reliability of its vehicles, and when those vehicles have been comprehensively torture-tested in Australia then widespread buyer confidence is easy to build on.
Ultimately, buyers only stand to benefit when companies like Premcar do top-quality conversion work on vehicles with design, development and testing undertaken in Australia and all of that work as well as the fitment of accessories are covered by a comprehensive warranty.
Keyword: The future of 4WD modification lies with engineering firms like Premcar | Opinion