The 2021 Nissan Navara Gives Us a Good Idea of What the Next Frontier Will Be Like

Nissan, the company which is soon giving us a new Z car with a stick, has just revealed its heavily facelifted Navara pickup, talking about how it's built on the company's 80-plus years of body-on-frame truck heritage. Originally named Navara after a northern Spanish province, the truck is closely related to the Frontier that's available in the United States, and this new model foreshadows what's to come for the aging North American-market truck.

Nissan's next-generation pickups take on a more menacing exterior design language with advanced safety features and more cargo bed volume. For 2021, Nissan has also strengthened the Navara's rear axle, increasing its payload capacity, and upgraded to a new steering rack to improve low-speed maneuverability and steering response in general. For comfort at any speed, Nissan's team has also added more sound-proofing insulation while cutting back the vibration levels.

In terms of safety, towing capacity and off-road capability, Nissan has upped the Navara's intelligent mobility package with the addition of forward collision warning, emergency braking and a better around-view monitor, which uses four cameras to help drivers navigate in those tight spots. That's also going to be helpful when hitching a trailer, not to mention spotting hidden obstacles at low speeds when navigating tight trails.

Nissan's senior design director for pickups and frame SUVs talks about attributes like "a high command structure" and graphic elements such as "a new interlocking frame grille" and "high-tech, squared C-shaped headlights." Meanwhile, the Navara also benefits from a tweaked Pro-4X trim. This includes a black emblem, grille, door handles, roof rack and running boards, an orange-accented front bumper, and 17-inch black wheels wrapped in all-terrain tires.

Complete with its “unbreakable” design language that Nissan believes should trigger "confidence and pride of ownership" in its customers, this new Navara will go on sale in Thailand next month. 

As for its Frontier brethren, we don't know exactly how it'll look; however, most of these hardware and safety upgrades are likely to find their way stateside in tandem with the truck's 3.8-liter V6. It's believed that the next-generation Frontier's design might've leaked via a design poster during the Navara's world premier, embedded below. Near the 11:45 mark, you can see a pickup that's similar to what we've seen in previous teasers situated between the Navara and Titan.

We won't have to wait much longer until the upcoming Frontier drops, replacing the generation that's amazingly been around since 2015.

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