Nissan has introduced a diesel Frontier Runner (Navara) concept at the Chicago Auto Show to see if consumers are ready to trade in their 4,0-litre V6s for an oil-burner.
That’s not really of interest to us, as we South Africans have had the diesel Navara for ages, in fact, it’s the model of choice over here.
What does interest us is the diesel engine they chose to showcase. It’s a 2,8-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel made by Cummins. It produces 150kW/474Nm and is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Nissan US says that it’s considering this specific powertrain for use in the next-generation Navara, if the Americans show enough interest in it.
We South Africans have already shown massive interest in the Navara and its current diesel engines, which leads us to believe that this Cummins engine in the concept car might be the top-of-the-range powertrain on offer once the next Navara is introduced locally.
With impressive figures like these, it’ll be wading into LCV segment battle armed with a bazooka. We can’t wait.