Nissan Australia has confirmed the next-gen Nissan Navara will launch in 2026.
The next-generation Nissan Navara has been locked in for a 2026 launch date, according to Nissan Oceania’s managing director, Andrew Humberstone.
While a late-2025 launch had previously been touted, Humberstone confirmed to Drive last week that “2026 is where we’re happening”.
Drive understands the new-gen Navara was first revealed to Nissan Australia dealers at a national conference early in 2025 who were advised that local showroom deliveries were due to commence in the final quarter (October to December) of this year.
However, Humberstone told Drive at the launch of the new Nissan Ariya last week that there were “a few things going on in that space at the moment, which we're just finalising”.
Nissan Australia is still to decide how it will launch the next-gen Navara, with Humberstone suggesting there could be a planned staggered rollout of variants.
“We traditionally had a range of 12 variants,” Humberstone told Drive. “Then we looked at it, ‘hang on, do we start with four? Do we start with three?’.
“Potentially we start with a smaller number of variants and build on that,” he added. “But obviously we're looking at the entire segment because I think you're seeing a divide in that segment between the traditional hardcore ute driver and the one that likes a double-cab.
“And what that means, maybe we need to look at different options. So again, we're being very creative on how we manage that.”
The next-generation Nissan Navara is based on the Mitsubishi Triton and will be built at Mitsubishi’s factory in Thailand.
However, Humberstone has previously allayed concerns that the next Navara would be little more than a rebadged Triton.
“We are making sure that it's very much a Nissan,” he told Drive. “So we'll be making a number of changes to make sure that that’s the case.”
While unconfirmed, it’s unlikely the Navara will differ little from the Triton in terms of mechanicals. And that means higher grade models are likely to inherit Mitsubishi’s 2.4-litre twin-turbo diesel four-cylinder engine (150kW/470Nm), outpowering the Nissan’s Renault-developed 2.3-litre twin-turbo unit (140kW/450Nm).
It’s also likely that Nissan’s incumbent seven-speed auto will make way for the Triton’s six-speed torque converter automatic.
With a 2026 launch all-but confirmed, Australia is likely to get its first glimpse of the next-generation Nissan Navara late in 2025.
Rob Margeit is an award-winning Australian motoring journalist and editor who has been writing about cars and motorsport for over 25 years. A former editor of Australian Auto Action, Rob’s work has also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Wheels, Motor Magazine, Street Machine and Top Gear Australia. Rob’s current rides include a 1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and a 2000 Honda HR-V Sport.
