Fiat Ducato vs Nissan Navara

What's the difference?

The Ducato originated in 1981 through a joint venture between Fiat and PSA Peugeot-Citroen, which are both now part of the recently formed Stellantis conglomerate. The Ducato has evolved through four decades and several generations, with more than 2.6 million sold in a variety of body styles (including popular motorhomes) and wheelbases.

The current generation van, which competes in the 3501-8000kg GVM commercial class, is also marketed as the Peugeot Boxer, which was tested at maximum GVM by CarsGuide in 2020. Despite many similarities between them, the latest iteration of the Ducato is more than just a badge-engineered version of its French sibling.

The MY21 Fiat Professional Ducato Series 7 is equipped with an all-new drivetrain, updated safety and convenience features and a class-leading two-tonne-plus payload capacity, which we recently put to the test.

Developing a new motor vehicle from scratch costs billions which is why manufacturers are increasingly sharing vehicle platforms and technology to spread these ever-increasing costs across two (or more) strategically aligned automotive brands.

This ‘badge engineering’ strategy is becoming popular in the light-commercial vehicle (LCV) segment as evidenced by partnerships between Ford and Volkswagen with their Ranger/Amarok and Transit Custom/Transporter pairings, Isuzu and Mazda with their D-Max/BT-50 duo and Chinese contenders MG and LDV with their U9/Terron 9 tie-up.

Mitsubishi and Nissan have recently established a similar relationship, with Mitsubishi’s Triton donating its underpinnings for the latest Nissan Navara. We recently spent a week with Nissan’s new entry-level model grade to assess its credentials from a tradie’s perspective.