Nissan Navara 2014 News

The all-new Nissan Navara and heavily facelifted Mitsubishi Triton are due in April and May ahead of updates to the Ford Ranger and Mazda BT-50 in July and an all-new Toyota HiLux in October. Dealers are keen to move stock about to be superseded with 2014 build plates.As with our story last week on clearance prices for passenger cars, the savings on utes vary from brand to brand.Most of these deals end on January 31, but if you sign on the dotted line this weekend, most will honour the sale price next week. After all, the vehicles in dealer stock aren't getting any younger.Discounts on the Ranger are rare but with an update around the corner Ford has sharpened the price on the middle-of-the-range XLS to compete with most other brands which sell around this RRP. The 2.2-litre diesel XLS crew cab 4x4 is $41,990 drive-away and the 3.2-litre five-cylinder diesel version is $44,490 in the traffic.Both offers equate to savings of about $5000. A tip: these prices are for manual models; use the savings to upgrade to automatic (adds $2000) as the manual transmission is not as refined or reliable as the six-speed auto. Footnote: savings on the popular XLT are relatively minor ($53,490 drive-away is not much off the RRP) so haggle for at least another $2000 off.The Mazda BT-50 is the Ford Ranger's twin under the skin — they have different bodies but are made on the same production line in Thailand and share the same engines, which is why Ford's premium RRP is normally so conspicuous. The BT-50 dual cab XTR is good buying at $45,990 drive-away; the $1500 premium over the 3.2 Ranger XLS adds navigation, larger alloy wheels, dual zone air-conditioning and side steps.The discounts on the Mitsubishi Triton crew cab GLX+ 4x4 have cooled but it's still one of the best buys. Late last year the price limboed to $29,990 drive-away but the 2014 clearance price is $31,990 drive-away with a free towbar.The price of the Triton is likely to get sharper in the coming months as the new model gets closer, and newer rivals start to appear in showrooms. Mitsubishi also has the cheapest single-cab 4x2 diesel ute with a drop-side tray (from a mainstream brand): $22,990 drive-away.Nissan Navara discounts are hard to pin down because the company favours finance offers or teases buyers with "huge factory bonuses", without highlighting exactly what price you can expect to pay. That means some buyers will pay more than others, so be sure to shop around.The only transparent price on the Nissan Navara this month is a limited edition "Silverline" crew cab 4x4 that comes with a sports bar, alloy wheels, and tub-liner. The $34,990 drive-away price is OK, but Nissan has dipped to lower than this on other models in the past six months, so there should still be some wriggle room in this price.Discounts on the Isuzu D-Max fluctuate and the 2014 clearance prices are middle-of-the-road in the current climate, but it's still one of the cheapest tickets to five-star ute safety: $37,990 drive-away for the SX crew cab 4x4 on steel wheels, with a $1000 voucher to spend on accessories.The Holden Colorado is available from $38,990 drive-away for the LS crew cab 4x4. You can take up the "no deposit, no repayments until 2016 offer" but the loan must be repaid in four years or less and the interest rate is not disclosed online and varies from dealer to dealer. We were quoted an interest rate of between 8 and 9 cent. Note: the interest is calculated from the day you sign the deal, even though you don't have to make the first payment until 2016.That means that your individual instalments will be higher than if you had started paying off the loan immediately.The top-line HiLux SR5 can currently be had for $49,990 drive-away, but it has been as low as $46,990 drive-away in the past 18 months, so be sure to haggle. Want a cheap 4x2 single cab with drop-side tray?The base model Workmate manual with air-conditioning (yes, still an option normally) can be had for $21,990 drive-away for the petrol model.Deals on the Volkswagen Amarok ebb and flow but the German brand has a super-sharp offer at the moment to keep up in the sales race with the mainstream ute brands: $37,990 drive-away for a the Amarok crew cab 4x4 manual with alloy wheels, fog lights and metallic paint.There is still a question mark over VW reliability but the Amarok is covered by a three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. A factory-backed extended warranty (to five years) is available for between $3000 and $3500 depending on distance coverage.

Ute sales boom to new record in June but not everyone was a winner.

Covers come off the new Nissan ute but no details on engine, towing capacity.

The Isuzu deal comes as Ford introduces two special editions of the Ranger pick-up -- one to appeal to mining companies and contractors and a more affordable XLS double cab at $44,490 drive-away.But the brands doing the sharpest deals are Nissan and Mitsubishi, both of which are clearing old stock to make way for the first new models in 10 years, either late this year or early next.As the oldest trucks on the market, the prices of Nissan and Mitsubishi utes are reaching new lows.The Triton GLX Plus is $31,990 drive-away while the luxury GLX-R is $38,990 drive-away, a saving of more than $12,000 off the launch price almost a decade ago.The Nissan Navara ST crew cab is also $38,990 drive-away but be sure to haggle as this is an advertised price only.The Holden Colorado "Storm" edition has $2000 worth of extra kit at no extra charge. Don't be afraid to shop around on these deals, too, as Holden dealers are working hard to shift more metal.The ute discounts may be emerging early but the deals will only get better as June 30 approaches, say industry insiders.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

Nissan unveiled the concept version of the Frontier – known as the Navara in Australia -- at the motor show with a new Cummins 2.8-litre turbodiesel engine and a ZF eight-speed automatic. The Cummins is being used to gauge reaction to a diesel mill in the US, where the big ute is sold only with a 4.0-litre V6 petrol engine.However, of more interest to us is the appearance of the ZF automatic, with an eight-speed currently the province largely of premium vehicles – with the upmarket Volkswagen Amarok the only ute to sport it in Australia.The addition of the transmission to the Navara would give it an extra selling point over rivals in the field, where the Nissan is second only to the Toyota Hilux in the 4x4 category, but trails not only Hilux but also Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda BT-50 and Holden Colorado in the 4x2 category.There would also be some advantage in the Frontier concept’s all-round disc brakes, which could give it an edge over even the Amarok, which like the Colorado, Ranger, BT-50 and other rivals have stuck with rear drum brakes – although without threatening their 5-star safety ratings.However it’s unlikely the concept’s four-cylinder Cummins will ever appear in our Navara. While the new diesel’s 149kW and 475Nm has a slight output superiority over the Renault-sourced 2.5-litre 140kW and 450Nm in our current Navaras, it’s no match for our flagship ST 550, which will deliver 170Nm and 550Nm from the 3-litre V6 with a seven-speed automatic – although at a hefty cost of A$62,990.But if Nissan's alliance with Cummins did bear Navara fruit, it could give our ute the grunt to outgun rivals like the Ranger / BT50 and Colorado, without recurring to the thirst - and price tag - of the V6 diesel. This could also be an opportunity for the Navara to match rivals' 3500kg towing capacity, where even the V6 diesel Navara is only rated at 3000kg despite having the most power and torque in its segment.

Nissan has been cautioned in a case with the US Federal Trade Commission over a commercial for the Frontier, sold in Australia as the Nissan Navara. Nissan North America and their ad agency TBWA Worldwide have settled the case with the commission with the admission that a stunt shown in a commercial for the popular ute was faked.The ad footage shows a Frontier tearing up a steep sand dune to rescue a bogged buggy, pushing it safely to the top. The case has now reached an official agreement that the ute -- even one with the 550Nm of torque delivered by the Navara's top-spec 3.0-litre turbodiesel -- could not push a dune buggy up such a steep slope.To shoot the slightly humorous ad, the production crew used cables to pull both vehicle up the dune. Nissan has not been fined over the representation of the stunt, but has agreed not to use potentially misleading footage in future commercials.Watch the Nissan Hillclimb ad hereIt's not the only time the Nissan Frontier has been shown with near super-vehicle powers. Another US ad filmed in a mock news broadcast style showed the Frontier coming to the rescue of an ailing passenger airplane with landing gear that had failed to properly deploy.In this case, the Frontier screams onto the runway and -- keeping pace with the plane -- lets it put its mangled front wheels into the ute's tray.Watch the Nissan Landing Gear ad hereLikewise, a current commercial for the Nissan Rogue -- the US version of our Dualis (soon to be called Qashqai) -- shows a woman getting her carpool commuters to work on time by dodging heavy traffic and jumping onto the roof of a moving train. Nissan has labelled the ad with warnings of 'fantasy' and 'do not attempt'.Watch the Nissan Commuter ad hereThis reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott