We knew that Nismo is rapidly expanding its lineup to cover most of Nissan’s production vehicles, but we didn’t see the Navara pickup as one of the models in need of a performance version.
Apparently, Nismo would be interested in creating tuned versions of its pickup and SUV range, as the company’s global boss of sales and marketing, Darren Cox, said a Nismo version of the new Nissan Navara would be an interesting proposition.
However, Cox added that any SUV or pickup from Nismo would need to be more than just a body kit and big wheels. “I imagine a lot of people would be asking if we could do a Nismo job, but it’s something very different to what we currently do today,” Cox told Australia’s Car Advice.
“Nismo has to be a credible production car from Nissan that’s sporty and therefore we study the implications of that, a pickup could be an interesting product because of its global nature when we go into other markets,” the executive added. Still, Cox said a Nissan Navara Nismo will not arrive any time soon.
A Qashqai Nismo could be a different story though. Despite reports talking of such a model last year, Nismo president, Shoichi Miyatani, didn’t confirm it. However, he said that he couldn’t rule out future Nismo-tuned global SUV’s larger than the Juke.
Miyatani added there are certain challenges to building a Nismo performance SUV worthy of the badge, namely what kind of performance improvements should be done.
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