Could Nissan offer two new utes in Australia? BYD Shark 6-rivalling Nissan Frontier Pro plug-in hybrid ute firms for export markets but what about the 2026 Nissan Navara to battle the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux

Nissan made an impact at the Shanghai motor show with the surprise reveal of the new HiLux-sized plug-in hybrid Frontier Pro ute.

The Frontier Pro is part of a Nissan joint-venture with Dongfeng subsidiary Zhengzhou and built-in-China with Chinese tech, but it is earmarked for export markets.

The Frontier Pro’s Vehicle Development Manager, Ikuo Miyai, told CarsGuide some of the possibilities the brand was considering for its new PHEV ute.

When asked if right-hand drive was a possibility for the Frontier Pro, Miyai said: “At this moment it’s left-hand side [only], but also the company is considering right-hand drive.”

When asked where the car would primarily go, he said initially it would head to other markets, like South America but said Chinese-built Nissan models like the Frontier weren’t off-the-table for the Australian market either

“Of course this is a possibility because our competitors are already selling [Chinese-built cars] in Australia. Our sense is [this is] good.”

Miyai said Nissan had it’s hand in ensuring the Frontier pro meet Nissan’s stringent global requirements.

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“This is a Nissan model, so we have Nissan requirements and Nissan targets, and Nissan performance is a little bit different. So now we are progressing and developing to meet the Nissan global standard.” he explained, elaborating that some markets would need deeper consideration before the Frontier could be sold there “[We’re] considering everything, but we need [to follow] some procedures - We need to consider the market requirements”

Miyai confirmed that technology from the Frontier would not be shared to other Nissan models in the future, especially not a potential future Mitsubishi Triton-based PHEV ute.

“[It’s] not transferable - this is Nissan technology with the partner, working with them, co-developed,” he said of the Frontier Pro’s hybrid components.

The Frontier Pro has an interesting plug-in hybrid layout. It uses a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine in much the same way as the BYD Shark 6, but it uses a more traditional driveline layout.

The Frontier Pro places its electric motor in the transmission, maintaining the same mechanical links to the front and rear wheels.

This allows it to have a regular orbital-gear transmission with a transfer case and rear differential lock, allowing the ute to drive in fully electric mode, fully petrol mode, or as a hybrid, in layout more familiar to the GWM Cannon Alpha and its Hi4-T system.

The Shark 6 by comparison plumbs power from the engine directly into a high-voltage generator with direct drive only to the front wheels at a very limited array of speeds, which makes the BYD range-extender most of the time.

The Frontier Pro can produce “over 300kW of power and up to 800Nm of torque”, according to the brand’s pre-release specifications, and can deliver up to 135km of fully electric driving range (according to the more lenient CLTC standard used in China).

Other details for the Frontier include multi-link rear suspension and 18-inch alloy wheels, while the interior is much more modern and ready for the Chinese domestic market, with a massive 14.6-inch multimedia screen and 10-inch digital instrument cluster. It also features a trendy two-spoke steering wheel, electric tailgate, electronic shifter and handbrake, and the inclusion of vehicle-to-load systems.

Nissan officially announced the Frontier Pro will be “exported outside of China with the recipient markets to be the subject of future announcements" but whether the brand will choose this PHEV to live alongside the yet-to-be-revealed Mitsubishi-platformed Navara, or stick with only the Mitsubishi-based car in Australia remains to be seen.