DRIVEN: NISSAN NAVARA II V ISUZU D-MAX
Nissan and the Isuzu have updated the Navara and D-MAX utes, but is it enough to earn a bigger slice of the sales pie?
ONE THING is certain about the new-vehicle market: nothing ever stands still for too long. This is especially so in the ultra-competitive ute market, where Nissan and Isuzu have both brought new product. The Navara upgrade is entirely voluntary, while the D-MAX comes off the back of new government-mandated exhaust emission standards. For the D-MAX, this means significant engine changes and – for good measure – Isuzu has also thrown in new cabin features, revised exterior styling, and a six-speed automatic gearbox to replace the previous five-speeder.
Over at Nissan, the changes to what is a relatively new design for Navara (2015) brings an additional work-grade model with the more powerful of the two diesel engines, extra kit on some models, and a retuning of the suspension.
Spec level for spec level, these two utes are price comparable – at least in the most popular ST and LS-U spec levels – so we decided to line them up side by side to see how they compare.