CHANCE OF NAVARA BIG BROTHER

The hulking Nissan Titan could be coming to Australia. The big brother of the Navara ute has been built to date only in left-hand drive, given its focus on the US.

However, Nissan has hatched a global expansion plan that is intended to put it into many more of the 133 countries where the Navara is already sold.

Australia is a clear target for Nissan and the right-hand drive ambition is confirmed by the head of light- commercial vehicle operations for the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Ashwani Gupta, speaking at the Tokyo motor show.

“Truck lovers love trucks. We are studying the expansion of the Titan full-size pick-up in other markets outside the US,” said Gupta.

He confirmed Australia as a potential destination for the Titan, which competes against the Ford F150 around the world, noting an opportunity in a country where utes have become a dominant force in showrooms.

“Everywhere we sell Navara we do the study. Truck lovers love trucks.”

Gupta said Nissan aims to be worldwide No.1 in light- commercial vehicles, which is one of the reasons for bringing Mitsubishi into the Renault-Nissan Alliance in 2016.

“We formed this business to complement each other, so we can have the maximum results,” he said.

Nissan’s benchmark is the Navara, which has just been spun off into the Mercedes-Benz X-Class and will soon become the Renault Alaskan, while Mitsubishi relies on the Triton.

The Titan sits well above the one-tonne utes that sell so well in Australia, in a space where the Dodge Ram — converted to right-hand drive by Walkinshaw automotive in a partnership with Ateco called American Special Vehicles — are the mainstream choice.